Jeypore: The only unreserved seat among the 14 Assembly seats in undivided Koraput is Jeypore. Former minister Raghunath Patnaik was elected continuously from this seat, and handled the finance and law portfolios in the Congress governments.
BJD’s Rabi Narayan Nanda defeated Raghunath in 2000, and was elected thrice from this constituency till 2014. He had also handled important portfolios in the BJD governments.
Tara Prasad Bahinipati of the Congress trounced Nanda in 2014, and the Congress wrested the seat from the BJD after 14 years. The battle here is confined to the Congress and the BJD.
While the BJD which announced its first list of candidates Monday has given its ticket to Nanda, there are speculations about the candidates of the other parties.
Sitting MLA Bahinipati is the main contender for the Congress ticket. Leaders like Ram Nayak, Binod Mohapatra, state Seva Dal chief Biren Mohan Patnaik, party secretary Durgashankar Sahu and AICC member Rabindra Mohapatra have also applied for the party ticket to the central screening committee of the Congress.
Bahinipati said he is sure that his party will nominate him for the seat, and that this time also the Congress will win the seat.
BJP state general secretary Bhrugu Buxi Patra has failed to devote time to this constituency as he was engaged with state politics. His name figures as a possible candidate of the saffron party in this seat, but he is believed to be lobbying for a ticket to contest from the Berhampur Lok Sabha seat.
Anup Patra, who recently defected from the BJD to the BJP, the BJP’s state executive member and Jeypore Urban Bank president Debendra Bahinipati, Akshaya Sahu and former district bar association president Bijay Ray Jenadeo are also lobbying for the BJP’s ticket.
PNN