Sambalpur: Voters of the Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency will decide the fate of the candidates April 23 during the third phase of elections.
There are 11 candidates in the fray in Sambalpur, including Independents. The three major political parties, the ruling BJD, the BJP and the Congress have fielded new faces here.
The BJP’s Nitesh Gangdeb is the sitting MLA of Deogarh Assembly seat, but is a new face in Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat. He has no hold over the Assembly constituencies coming under the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat except Deogarh and Kuchinda.
The BJD has fielded retired works department secretary Nalini Pradhan in Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency. He is new to politics. Although he belongs to Chhendipada in Angul district, he studied in Sambalpur and had contacts with many people here during his government service.
Nalini Pradhan has good contacts with contractors and government officers here, but has not been able to establish himself with voters.
The Congress has fielded former MP and senior leader Sarat Patnaik here. Apart from being an MP, he has also successfully discharged responsibilities in the party organisation.
Initially there was strong opposition in some areas of the constituency against him being given the party ticket. It subsided gradually and local leaders have now started working for him.
The candidates of all the major political parties are new faces in Sambalpur. They are pinning hopes mainly on the pocket votes of their respective parties, than on personal votes.
There is a general impression that farmers and the youth would have a major say in the elections here. All major political parties are campaigning here taking up issues pertaining to farmers. However, farmers’ organisations are opposing this line of the BJD government, the BJP’s Central government and to some extent even the Congress.
There is acute unemployment among the educated in all the districts coming under the Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency. Thousands of highly educated unemployed men and women are idling at home. So it is expected that farmers and educated youth will have a decisive role in the elections.
In the 2014 elections, the BJD’s Nagendra Pradhan had won the Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency by polling 3,58,618 votes. Suresh Pujari of the BJP came second with 3,28,042 votes and Amar Pradhan of the Congress got the third slot with 2,42,131 votes.
The BJD has not fielded Nagendra this time from here, while the BJP has fielded Suresh from the Bargarh Lok Sabha constituency.
PNN