BJD, BJP locked in tough by-poll fight

In the 2009 elections also, Maharathy had polled 49.14 pc of the votes against 40.85 pc of the Congress candidate Samantray.

BHUBANESWAR: With only two days remaining for the campaign to end in the Pipili by-poll, the two main contenders - the ruling BJD and BJP - have intensified their efforts to win the seat.Leaving aside several factors in the play for the by-poll scheduled on April 17, observers are calculating whether the Congress will be able to hold together its traditional votes or they will be divided between the BJD and BJP. 

Sources in the Congress maintained that the party still has around 15,000 to 20,000 votes in the constituency. However, several leaders who have visited the constituency recently are in doubt whether these votes will remain in the party fold or shift elsewhere.

Congress campaign in the constituency has been derailed after party candidate Ajit Mangaraj tested Covid-19 positive and is being treated at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. Similarly, president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik is unable to campaign as he is in home isolation.
However, senior Congress legislator Santosh Singh Saluja who campaigned for the party along with secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) A Rudra Raju maintained that Congress will be able to consolidate its position in the by-poll. 

As Pipili has not seen any development during the last 20 years, people will vote for Congress this time, he said.Till 2014, Congress had around 30 per cent votes in the constituency. Party candidate Judhistir Samantray had polled 49,076 votes (30.4 pc) in the 2014 Assembly elections and was defeated by BJD candidate Pradeep Maharathy who got 82,550 votes (51.19 pc). In the 2009 elections also, Maharathy had polled 49.14 pc of the votes against 40.85 pc of the Congress candidate Samantray.

However, in the 2019 Assembly elections, Congress share of votes had plunged to 9,830 (5.63 pc) suggesting that traditional supporters had crossed over to either BJD or BJP. Going by the fact that Ashrit Pattanayak, the BJP candidate polled 78,731 votes, observers believe that a majority of Congress supporters had gone over to BJP. If the same pattern is witnessed this time in the constituency, a tough fight is on the cards. 

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com