BHUBANESWAR: A high-stakes contest is on cards in Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency, which once known as an anti-Congress citadel has turned into an impregnable bastion of BJD.
The constituency is in national focus this time because of the candidature of BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda whose stature has grown considerably in the saffron party as well as at the national level since the 2019 elections when he had lost to BJD’s film actor-turned-politician Anubhav Mohanty. Though Panda lost by a margin of more than 1.80 lakh votes, he had polled over 4.76 lakh votes.
This time, Panda is pitted against Anshuman Mohanty, a former MLA from Rajanagar. Anshuman is the son of former minister Nalini Kanta Mohanty, a close aide of late Biju Patnaik who had won from the Rajanagar Assembly segment for a record even times and was a minister in the Naveen Patnaik government. He was dropped from the cabinet in the middle of 2001 under the ‘shadow of corruption’ by Naveen. But, such was Nalini’s grip on the segment that he won from Rajanagar as a Congress candidate in 2004.
But Anshuman is no match for Panda at least in political stature. Sources in BJD said the party is banking on Biju legacy for Anshuman’s victory from the Lok Sabha seat. Panda may have won from the constituency twice but was successful when he was in the BJD and with the chief minister. But he could not win from the constituency when he had to fight against BJD in 2019.
A senior BJD leader maintained in Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency and Assembly segments under it, BJD candidates matter only marginally. Elections are won in the name of Naveen who people think carries the Biju legacy with him. Biju Babu had won from Kendrapara thrice in 1977, 1980 and 1984. The seat was also represented by towering personalities like Rabi Ray, Srikant Jena, Prabhat Samantray and Sarat Kumar Deb. But the candidates fought against the Congress and were with either Biju Patnaik or Naveen Patnaik and not against them.
Besides, Anshuman will also be assisted by strong BJD candidates in all seven segments of the Lok Sabha seat. In 2019, BJD had won all the seven segments. One of the major factors this time is that BJD has neutralised a strong anti-Naveen Patnaik force Bijoy Mohapatra in the constituency by fielding his son, Arvind Mohapatra, from the Patkura Assembly segment.
On the other hand, BJP is counting on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the all-India profile of Panda. The party is counting on split voting from the constituency for which the BJD has already coined ‘Jodi Sankha’ slogan.
Congress’ candidate Sidhhartha Swarup Das is a new face and does not have any previous political profile. Congress leadership though maintained that a businessman by profession, Das will be a good match for the BJD and BJP candidates.
