Jajpur/Jajpur Road: The political scene in the Korei Assembly segment of Jajpur Lok Sabha constituency is changing fast as the BJP and the Congress are gaining ground and the BJD is struggling to gain a foothold. Korei goes to the polls April 29.
Korei was once represented by the late Ashok Das, the former president of the erstwhile Janata Dal and close confidant of former Chief Minister, the late Biju Patnaik. He won six times from Korei making it a high profile seat.
This time seven candidates are contesting in this constituency. However, the main fight is between the candidates of the BJD, the BJP and the Congress.
The BJD has fielded Ashok Bal as its candidate replacing incumbent MLA Akash Das Nayak. The BJP has re-nominated Biswajit Nayak who had contested in 2014. The Congress nominee is Bandita Parida, a former chairperson of Vyasanagar Municipality, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded a transgender and social activist Kajal Kinnar.
The voters of Vyasanagar civic body area and Korei block will play a crucial role in the election. Congress candidate Bandita Parida hails from Vyasanagar (Jajpur Road) town while the BJP candidate Biswajit belongs to Jahna village on the town’s outskirts.
BJD nominee Ashok belongs to the Kuakhia area in Rasulpur block and his hopes rest on the voters of nine panchayats in that block. Both Ashok and Bandita are new faces while Biswajit is contesting for the second time. He is way ahead in campaigning due to his experience in contesting elections.
Observers said the BJD workers of Korei have split into three factions over ticket distribution. Ashok has managed to win over some and make them involved in his campaign. However, many frontline leaders in the party are silent and not coming out in support of Ashok. This indicates the fast changing political scene in the constituency.
Several BJD leaders were in the race for tickets in Korei. Their hopes were dashed when the Chief Minister announced the name of Ashok Bal as candidate. The opponents of Ashok and MLA Akash Das Nayak’s supporters had demanded a change in the party’s candidate.
Later, many leaders accepted Ashok as the candidate. However, incumbent MLA Akash and many frontline leaders are still silent on his candidature.
Ashok has inducted some new people into the party and is trying to win with their support. BJP candidate Biswajit is exploiting the bickering in the BJD and is leaving no stone unturned to win.
Biswajit is in a comfortable position as he has the backing of traditional BJP voters and is popular in the area. A group in the BJP is opposing Biswajit, but they have failed to hold ground due to the ‘Modi wave’. This has helped Biswajit to gain support in rural areas.
Congress candidate Bandita enjoys the support of women, and is finding it easy to connect with voters on the basis of her experience as a former chairperson of Vyasanagar municipality.
Both Biswajit and Bandita have good organisational abilities. While the two are reaching out to voters, Ashok is still trying to mend fences with leaders of various factions in his party.
Senior BJD workers are silent and workers who were opposing Ashok have been entrusted with his campaign. An influential group in the BJD is not participating in the campaign as Ashok did not give importance to it.
However, Ashok is confident of success and said his party will win again in this election.
PNN