BHUBANESWAR: Every festival is an opportunity for candidates to connect with voters. For candidates of major political parties in the state capital, Pana Sankranti and Odia New Year was a golden chance to distribute ‘pana’, attend sankirtan and interact with locals.
Candidates of BJD, BJP as well as those aspiring to contest as Independents were seen interacting with residents, exchanging greetings of Odia New Year and sharing the traditional drink ‘pana’ among community members as a gesture of goodwill. Bhubaneswar MP and BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from the seat Aparajita Sarangi as well as her rival from BJD Manmath Routray were seen visiting different Assembly constituencies in the city to take part in Pana Sankranti pujas at local temples and distribute ‘pana’ among people in the areas.
Both Aparajita and BJP’s candidate for Bhubaneswar North Assembly seat Priyadarshi Mishra visited different localities in the area. Later, Aparajita also visited Bhubaneswar Central and Ekamra constituencies. BJP’s Bhubaneswar Central candidate Jagannath Pradhan and Ekamra nominee Babu Singh also visited different localities including Janpath, Shastri Nagar and Old Town and distributed pana among residents and community members.
“We attended puja at temples, distributed pana and participated in sankirtan programmes in more than 40 places by evening and still dozens of places were to be covered. This shows the enthusiasm of the constituents for our leader,” said a supporter of Babu Singh. Like BJP candidates, Manmath also visited different constituencies with BJD’s MLAs for distributing ‘pana’. BJD’s Central Assembly seat candidate Ananta Narayan Jena and Ekamra nominee Ashok Chandra Panda also reached out to a large number of locals and conveyed them wishes of Odia New Year. Corporator of ward no 59 Biranchi Mahasupakar, planning to contest the polls as an Independent, also visited different temples and distributed ‘pana’ in Ekamra constituency.
The move was aimed at connecting with voters on a cultural as well as personal level, said a campaign team member of Mahasupakar.
“Pana Sankranti and Odia New Year are occasions that bring people together. Taking part in these celebrations, sharing pana and exchanging greetings always strengthens our bond with the community members,” said Jena.