NABARANGPUR: The BJD is banking on brother-sister duo Manohar Randhari and Padmini Dain to wrest Dabugam and Kotpad Assembly segments from Congress. Of the seven Assembly segments of Umerkote, Jharigam, Dabugam, Nabarangpur, Kotpad, Chitrokonda and Malkangiri under Nabarangpur Parliamentary constituency, the BJD had won five seats except for Kotpad and Dabugam that went to Congress.
BJD’s Balabhadra Majhi defeated Congress’ Pradeep Kumar Majhi by a margin of 2,042 votes to win the Lok Sabha seat in 2014. Kotpad and Dabugam were the only two segments where Pradeep had registered lead over his BJD rival in the last General Elections although he lost by a thin margin of 2,042 votes. After delimitation, late Basudeb Majhi of Congress won Kotpad seat by 11,234 votes defeating BJD’s Gopinath Naik in 2009.
Subsequently, in 2014, Chandra Sekhar Majhi of Congress had won the Kotpad Assembly seat by defeating Ashok Pangi of BJD by 31,321 votes. In 2009 General Elections, Congress candidate Bhujabal Majhi snatched Dabugam seat from Motiram Naik of BJD by 7,374 votes. He retained it in 2014 by defeating Motiram again by 6,097 votes.
This time, both the seats are a prestige issue for both Congress and BJD. The ruling party has fielded Manohar Randhari in Dabugam Assembly seat. Randhari was shifted from Nabarangpur Assembly seat to Dabugam despite the fact that he won it both in 2009 and 2014 elections and enjoys a strong base there. For Kotpad seat, the ruling party has chosen Randhari’s sister Padmini who was also an aspirant for the seat in 2014 but could not get nomination. She has since then been working for the party in the Assembly constituency.
The brother-sister duo is known for their hard work and political observers believe, they will give a tough fight to the Congress candidates this time. Randhari and Padmini also have a strong connect with people at the grassroots in their areas.