BHUBANESWAR: Campaigning for the Pipili bypoll scheduled on September 30 has become hectic as senior leaders of the major political parties have started wooing the voters by holding small meetings in view of the Covid restrictions.
While Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is likely to virtually campaign for the party candidate Rudra Pratap Maharathy on the last day on September 27, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will launch his campaign for party candidate Ashrit Pattanayak on Saturday. Pradhan will campaign at several places in Pipili and Delang blocks.
Campaigning for the party candidate on Friday, State unit BJP president Sameer Mohanty raised the issue of failure of the State government to provide houses to the poor in the constituency which were damaged during cyclone Fani in May, 2019.
The BJP on Friday submitted a petition to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) here alleging that the ruling BJD flouted Covid guidelines during campaigning in the constituency at a time when the second wave of the pandemic is yet to be over in the State.
In a memorandum submitted to the CEO, a delegation of BJP leaders led by general secretary Lekhasri Samantsinghar alleged that the BJD took out a large motorbike rally on Thursday at Pipili in violation of the Covid norms.She alleged that many ministers, ruling party legislators and local workers participated in the rally in violation of the Covid guidelines.
The Congress also stepped up its campaign in the constituency. President of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge Odisha Rudra Raju and other senior leaders campaigned for Congress candidate Bishwokeshan Harichandan Mohapatra.