BHUBANESWAR: Lack of consensus in selection of candidates for some Assembly seats may cost the BJP dear. A glaring example of discontentment among party workers over nomination of candidate is Banki Assembly constituency.
The party nominated Tusharakanta Chakrabarti, a zilla parishad member from Baranga over Subhransu Mohan Padhi, a key organisational man of the party in Banki and its nominee in 2019 elections. It has not obviously gone down well with the party workers.
When the BJP was in alliance with the BJD, Banki was with the regional party. After the alliance in 2009, Padhi has been trying his luck from the seat without success as the constituency was a stronghold of Janata Dal since 1990. Janata Dal was later rechristened as the Biju Janata Dal.
“If winnability is one of the top parameters for selection of candidates, Padhi could have been the first choice as he has been with the BJP for nearly two decades and contributed significantly towards the growth of the party in the constituency. He vastly improved BJP’s vote share from 8,056 in 2009 to 32,541 in in 2019,” said a senior leader of the party.
Haling from an influential family of Banki with varied business interests, Padhi is a known face in the constituency whereas Chakrabati is new to the voters since he is a resident of Baranga. Chakrabarti is affluent with business interests in real estate and minor minerals but he has no connect with voters in Banki area, said the leader.
“Banki is always a tough constituency to win for BJP where the Congress still has a sizeable vote share. Padhi could have given a tough fight to BJD as he had won over many Congress groups following speculations of former Congress MLA and party nominee for the seat Debasis Patnaik switching over to BJD. Now it will be difficult for BJP to retain the vote share it had received in the last elections,” a city-based businessman from Banki told The New Indian Express on condition of anonymity.
Patnaik who emerged as a leader from student politics joined the electoral fray in 2000 on a Congress ticket and came second to BJD’s Pravat Tripathy. He, however, defeated Tripathy in 2004. After losing two elections, he had been lobbying for a BJD ticket.
When it did not materialise, he shifted focus to BJP by taking the approval of his supporters. While he was negotiating with a few top BJP leaders, came the alliance talks between BJD and BJP.
Anticipating that Banki seat will fall in BJD’s kitty if the alliance materialised, Patnaik changed his plan to join the saffron party even after getting the green signal. Now he will have a tough time regaining lost ground, sources added.
Balikuda is the another Assembly seat where BJP has nominated Satya Sarathy Mohanty, who has been imported from Delhi and imposed on the party workers who have been tasked with the responsibility of ensuring his victory.
