ROURKELA: With hardly any popular leader left, Sundargarh district Congress committee (SDCC) president Janardan Dehuri as the party’s Sundargarh Lok Sabha (LS) nominee faces the biggest challenge of his life to keep the Congress vote bank intact.
Though the chances of the Congress winning the prestigious Sundargarh LS seat against the mighty BJP and BJD look remote, the onus to contain further erosion of traditional votes of Congress rests on Dehuri. In fact, expectations pinned on Dehuri, a former MLA of Bonai, are higher than his ability and stature, claimed a section of Congressmen. They fear Dehury may have to settle for less than two lakh votes in the election.
In 2004, the defeated Congress nominee and two-time MP Frida Topno had polled 2,96,886 votes, while former Congress chief minister Hemanand Biswal in 2009 won from Sundargarh polling 2,80,054 votes. In 2014 and 2019, Biswal and four-time Birmitrapur MLA George Tirkey as Congress nominees for the LS seat were placed third securing 2,69,335 and 2,68, 218 votes respectively. In past four elections, the Congress had secured around 2.68 lakh to 2.97 lakh votes, but then the Congress candidates were heavyweights.
Congress insiders point out that Dehuri once won Bonai Assembly seat back in 1997 in the by-poll. Till his nomination as SDCC president nine years ago, he was not even known to the Congress rank and file beyond the Bonai Assembly constituency (AC). Dehuri contesting as Independent candidate from Bonai AC against the official Congress nominee in 2014 had barely got 6,025 votes.
In 2019 when the Congress left the Bonai seat for CPM, Dehuri contested again as an Independent and got 11,722 votes. Observers say Dehuri will find the going tough when total registered voters are about 15.67 lakh with turn out of about 72 percent, they claimed.
However, Dehuri exuded confidence that the Congress would do better under his leadership.
Former SDCC president BM Tripathy said Bhuiyan community has a significant presence in Sundargarh and Dehuri represents them. The Congress has a sizable number of committed voters in Sundargarh and Dehuri has already covered the entire district in first round of campaign, so he cannot be written off, Tripathy averred.
Nonetheless, a senior Congress leader said the party would garner major votes from Rajgangpur AC with sitting MLA CS Razen Ekka and Talsara AC with Indian hockey skipper Prabodh Tirkey being the Congress candidates. Bonai and Birmitrapur Assembly seats are left for allies, while in Rourkela, RN Pali and Sundargarh ACs, the Congress is not even considered a force, he added.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) general secretary Biren Senapati backing Dehuri said he is experienced with a clean image. So the fight would be triangular and tough, he added.