Semiliguda: In the wake of the ensuing Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state, the candidates of the three major political parties here have geared up to confront each other in Pottangi Assembly constituency segment of Koraput district which will go to polls on April 11.
The BJD, BJP and Congress will face a triangular contest in this constituency. Aside from the three major political parties, two independent candidates are also contesting the seat.
The Pottangi Assembly constituency has been held by the BJD for 19 years. This time, the BJD has fielded Pritam Padhi as its candidate. Similarly, Congress has fielded Rama Chandra Kadam and BJP has fielded Ramchandra Pangi. The independent candidate is Chaitanya Nandibali. Many BJD and BJP leaders, who were lobbying for party tickets, have now become a major headache for the party candidates.
The Pottangi Assembly constituency comprises of Damanjodi block, Pottangi block, Nandapur block, Semiliguda block and four panchayats (Litiguda, Marichamala, Dumuripadar and Mathalput) of Koraput block. This Assembly constituency was formed in 1957.
In the changing political atmosphere, bickering in the three major political parties has given rise to more dissidence. Numerous aspirants from within the parties were lobbying for party tickets but failing to secure them have defected to rival political parties.
After the three-tier panchayat elections held in 2017, Jayaram Pangi was suspended from BJD on the charges of anti-party activities and he joined BJP. This has helped the saffron party to strengthen its position in the Pottangi Assembly constituency segment. Notably, the Pangi family has been reigning over this Assembly seat for the past 19 years.
Many local Congress leaders had joined the BJD with the anticipating that the sitting MLA, Prafulla Kumar Pangi will not get party ticket for Pottangi Assembly seat this time. Those who had joined the BJD leaving Congress included Pritam Padhi, Chaitanya Nandibali and Sunam Hantal. Although, Prafulla Kumar Pangi was the main aspirant for BJD ticket, Chaitanya Nandibali has filed nomination paper as an independent after the party gave the ticket to Pritam Padhi.
Furthermore, the BJP candidate in the 2014 Assembly elections, Krushna Chandra Jani has also filed nomination as an independent candidate after failing to secure the BJP ticket this time.
In the 2014 elections, of the total 1,73,130 voters, 1,22,928 voters had cast their vote in Pottangi Assembly constituency seat. Prafulla Kumar Pangi of BJD had won from this seat with 46,839 votes. He was trailed by Rama Chandra Kadam of Congress with 36,075 votes. Krushna Jani of BJP was in the third place with 9,401 votes.
PNN