BHUBANESWAR: With only two weeks remaining for the November 3 bypolls, campaigning in the two Assembly constituencies Balasore Sadar and Tirtol has gained momentum.
While parties have lined up their star campaigners for the polls, all eyes are on whether Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will campaign in both the constituencies. Though the ruling BJD has not made any announcement in this regard, speculation is rife over the issue.
The situation has changed since Saturday after the Chief Minister travelled outside Bhubaneswar for the first time to Puri to review the progress of development projects. Besides, the State Government has lifted the ceiling on number of persons for attending political meetings to be organised at open spaces or grounds.
This decision has led many to believe that plans are afoot for campaigning of the Chief Minister in the two constituencies.
Of the two constituencies, the fight in Balasore Sadar seat has turned out to be more interesting as the BJD is putting its might to wrest from BJP. All the three main contenders, BJD, BJP and Congress, are focusing on door-to-door campaigning. Senior BJD leaders have already camped in each of the panchayat in the constituencies to campaign for their candidates.
Manas Dutta, the BJP candidate from Balasore Sadar and son of late MLA Madan Mohan Dutta, is aggressively campaigning by targeting the ruling-BJD for neglecting the district during the last 20 years. Union Minister and Balasore BJP MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi is actively campaigning for the BJP candidate.
MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, who is Balasore in-charge of Congress, alleged that both the BJP and BJD are responsible for closure of many industries in the district. “Our fight is against misgovernance and corruption,” he said.