ROURKELA: With BJP knocking at its door, the ruling BJD has slipped into election mode with an eye on the polls to the 35-member Sundargarh zilla parishad (ZP) which is just six months away.
In 2017 panchayat elections, the BJP sprang a surprise by winning 13 of the 35 seats. With 14 seats, BJD managed to retain the ZP council with outside support of seven ZP members of Congress, CPM and an Independent.
BJD insiders admitted that the ruling party is worried about its weak performance in Sundargarh sub-division as it had just won only two out of 18 ZP seats. In contrast, the BJP swept the Panposh and Bonai sub-divisions by winning 12 of 17 ZP seats.
Former Sundargarh MLA and BJD’s State general secretary Yogesh Singh said party’s election preparedness has started with mobilisation of workers.
ZP president Emma Ekka was confident that party would ride on popularity of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, government’s stellar work and organisational rejuvenation to perform well in Sundargarh sub-division and other areas.
However, a senior BJD leader admitted that the BJD faces a very tough challenge in Sundargarh sub-division amid two sitting MLAs of BJP and one of Congress.
But things have improved for the ruling outfit since the last polls due to better coordination between Rourkela BJD president Sarada Prasad Nayak and his Sundargarh counterpart Binay Toppo with their rival and the party’s State vice-president Mangla Kisan’s left with a little say.
In a bid to lure rural voters of Sundargarh, the State government has announced several development projects in the district this year. In February, the Chief Minister had laid foundation for projects worth around Rs 3,300 crore.
On Saturday, Steel & Mines and Works Minister Prafulla Mallick attended a Cabinet meeting in virtual mode at Sundargarh town where the CM approved Duduka-Gopalpur-Taparia road and two mega piped water projects worth Rs 1,279 crore.
Sources said the water projects worth around Rs 1,176 crore are targeted to cover 6.38 lakh rural population in 10 blocks of the district.