KENDRAPARA: Call it political atonement or opportunism, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Wednesday fielded Aravind Mohapatra from Patkura, the assembly constituency the 41-year-old’s father and one of the founders of the regional party Bijay Mohapatra was denied 24 years back in a dramatic manoeuvre by party president Naveen Patnaik.
In 2000, Naveen denied Bijay a BJD ticket for Patkura and instead substituted him with Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak at the very last hour. But Atanu was defeated by a margin of more than 50,000 votes and the voters of Patkura elected Bijay’s candidate Trilochan Behera. However, Behera went on to join the BJD soon after.
In subsequent elections, from 2004 to 2019, Bijay faced defeat at the hands of the BJD leaders starting from Atanu in 2004, (Bijay contested as Orissa Gana Parishad candidate), Ved Prakash Agrawalla in 2009 (Bijay fought as a BJP candidate), Atanu again in 2014 from Mahakalapada and Sabitri Agrawalla in 2019 from Patkura.
He went on to be a known critic of the state government for more than two decades. “But he wanted Naveen to allow his son Aravind to join the BJD and now we see he was given a party ticket from Patkura,” said senior Congress leader and former MLA Chinmaya Beura.
On the other hand, BJP supporters feel since his father was humiliated by Naveen, Aravind’s joining the BJD and fielded from Patkura will not go down well with the voters who still have sympathy for Mohapatra senior, said Bharat Das, a BJP activist.
However, analysts feel, this is Naveen’s way of atonement. “Bijay Babu has a good base and rapport with the voters of Patkura even today and it will help his son,” said Biswanath Behera, a retired engineer of Kendrapada.
Similarly, the nomination of Anshuman, son of late leader Nalinikanta Mohanty, for the Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat has stirred controversy, with accusations of betrayal against the Congress party.
A protégé of Biju Patnaik, Nalinikanta had won from Rajnagar seven times on the trot from 1977 to 2004 as a candidate of Janata, Lok Dal, Janata Party, Janata Dal, BJD and Congress. But in 2009, he tasted defeat as a Congress candidate at the hands of BJD candidate Alekha Jena. The veteran leader passed away in 2012 at the age of 63.
Dharanidhar Suar, a Congress leader, voiced discontent over Ansuman’s alignment with the BJD, predicting electoral repercussions. Dhiren Sahoo, president of the BJD’s district unit, exuded confidence in the party’s electoral prospects, emphasising unity among BJD supporters to secure victory across the district.
Naveen had sacked Nalinikant from the ministry on the alleged charge of corruption after which he joined the Congress.