BHUBANESWAR: Keeping with his style, BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has effected a son rise in the party, offering tickets to at least four sons of leaders by the release of the third list of candidates for the upcoming polls. Announcing the candidates for the third and fourth phase elections, Naveen on Wednesday denied tickets to Banki MLA Pravat Ranjan Tripathy, Choudwar-Cuttack MLA Pravat Ranjan Biswal and Basudevpur legislator Bijayashree Routray and nominated their sons from the respective seats. Tripathy’s son Debi Ranjan Tripathy, Biswal’s son Souvic Biswal and Bijayshree’s son Bishnubrata Routray will make their poll debut this election.
A Master in Business Administration, Debi (31) is the working president of BJD’s student wing Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD) and has been managing the affairs in Cuttack, Kendrapara, Dhenkanal, Angul and Jajpur districts.
While he claims to have been nominated for his organisational work, political pundits believed that the party supremo compensated Tripathy as he was dropped for his alleged involvement in chit-fund scam.
“I am an organiser and active in politics for the last over five years. Be it organisational or social work, whatever the party has asked me to do, I have successfully delivered. I owe to the party president and Chief Minister for my nomination,” Debi said.
A Master in Personal Management and Industrial Relations, Bishnubrata is the general secretary of BJD Bhadrak district unit. He has been managing party affairs in Bhadrak district, more particularly in Basudevpur since 2012. Bishnubrata said he is active in politics for the last six years and successfully managed the 2009 and 2014 elections for his father. “Neither my father nor any member of my family forced me to politics. It was the demand from the locals who want me to represent them in the Assembly. One can view it as a dynasty politics, but acceptability was the key factor,” he said.
Apart from them, two sons of former Minister Ananga Uday Singh Deo have also been nominated to contest in the polls. While Ananga’s elder son Kalikesh Singh Deo has been renominated by BJD from Balangir Parliamentary constituency, his younger son Arka will try his luck from Balangir Assembly segment for the first time. Two daughters of former Chief Minister Hemananda Biswal are also in poll fray.