BHUBANESWAR: Amidst speculation over whether Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will campaign physically in the by-poll to the Pipili Assembly constituency scheduled on April 17, the ruling BJD on Friday released its list of 30 star campaigners which includes the party supremo.
With the resurgence of Covid-19 cases in the State, party insiders could not confirm on the form of the Chief Minister’s campaign. The Chief Minister had campaigned through video conference in the by-elections to Balasore and Tirtol Assembly constituencies. According to sources, the Chief Minister may again resort to same method to woo the electorates of Pipili this time.
The party’s campaigners include the secretary (organisation) Pranab Prakash Das, seven ministers and other senior leaders. Earlier, the Chief Minister had entrusted six senior leaders with overall management of the by-poll, besides giving separate charges of the Pipili and Delanga block and Pipili NAC to ministers and MLAs.
The Congress which is trying to make its presence felt in the by-poll has also announced its list of 30 star campaigners which includes Odisha in-charge A Chella Kumar and president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik. The list also includes leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Narasingha Mishra, AICC secretary and Odisha in-charge G Rudra Raju, party MP Saptagiri Ulaka, six party MLAs, three former presidents of the OPCC and several senior leaders.
Earlier on March 30, the BJP had announced its list of star campaigners including State president Samir Mohanty, Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Chandra Sarangi, national vice-president Baijayant Panda, national spokesperson Sambit Patra, former Union minister Jual Oram, former State president KV Singhdeo and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi.