jajpur: The rampant corruption in awarding work contracts and the loot of minor minerals has put the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on the back foot in Jajpur district.
The irregularities in awarding work contracts are evident in the Dharmasala Assembly seat which is represented by BJD MLA Pranab Kumar Balbantaray. The irregularities became rampant here after the 2014 Assembly elections.
The Haridaspur stockyard scam, the encroachment of forest lands, the construction of roads on forest land with government funds, the smuggling of black stones from Dankari Hill, tender fixing, commercialisation of politics, the neglect of Biju loyalists, the Rs 25 crore fine by the National Green Tribunal on the state government for illegal mining and the demand for CBI and ED probes have been troubling the ruling party in this Assembly seat.
The Dharmasala Assembly seat comprises 45 panchayats of Dharmasala block and nine panchayats of Rasulpur block in Jajpur district.
The seat is a non-Congress bastion from 1990. Candidates of the erstwhile Janata Dal and later from the BJD have been elected from here. Former minister Kalpataru Das was elected from this seat in 1995 and established himself as an influential leader after the BJD was formed in the state.
Kalpataru’s son Pranab Kumar Balbantray aka Jitu is the frontrunner for the party ticket.
Former MLA and BJD founder Rabi Lavanya Das is another hopeful for the party ticket. He won from this seat from 2000 to 2014 and held various important positions in the government.
Dharmasala witnessed a lot of development during Kalpataru’s stint, but corruption also flourished. Land scams and the loot of minor minerals brought a bad name for the area.
The massive corruption and irregularities in various government works have now become a weapon in the hands of the opposition.
The BJD changed its stand in 2014 and gave the party ticket to Pranab to contest from this seat and sent Kalpataru to Rajya Sabha as an MP.
Kalpataru played a major role in Pranab’s victory as the latter defeated Congress candidate Srinath Mishra by 85,786 votes in the 2014 elections.
However, after Kalpataru’s death things underwent a major change. Observers say that if the BJD brass does not seriously think about selecting candidates then they will have to face consequences.
Pranab rejected the charges stating that he has never given any scope for irregularities. He said the people are supporting him due to the development projects he has undertaken in the area.
Another hopeful is former MLA Ravi Lavanya Das. He won from this seat in 1977 defeating former minister Banka Bihari Das on a Janata Party ticket. He is a staunch Biju loyalist since student days and is one of the founder members of the BJD. Das has remained in the BJD since its inception. This has drawn him to people and helped him win their support. He is an honest person and that has won him many friends among the public.
Das said he will definitely win as he enjoys public support. He said that as a disciplined party worker he will work to make the party candidate win in this election even if not given the ticket.
Congress leaders are trying to rebuild their party and have become hopeful after the victory of the party in the Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The party has not lost hope despite repeatedly losing here since 1990.
There are two hopefuls in the race for the party ticket. Smrutirekha Pahi, the general secretary of the Pradesh Mahila Congress, is the frontrunner followed by former MLA Kangali Charan Panda.
Smrutirekha said she is hopeful of getting the ticket and said that development cannot be achieved without eliminating corruption.
Panda said he is also hopeful of getting the party ticket and many who have left the party will return once he gets the ticket. He added that he will abide by the party’s decision.
Meanwhile, putting all speculations to rest the BJP has announced the name of Ramesh Chandra Parida as the party candidate from this seat. He said he has worked tirelessly to unite and strengthen the party and is hopeful of winning from this seat. Parida had unsuccessfully contested from this seat in 2014 elections.
2014 Election Results
Pranab Kumar Balbantray (BJD) – 1,09,241
Srinath Mishra (Congress) – 23,455
Ramesh Chandra Parida (BJP) – 19,940
2009 Election Results
Kalpataru Das (BJD) – 79,867
Kangali Charan Panda (Congress) – 44,734
2019 numbers
Total voters – 2,14,077
Male voters – 1,12,302
Female voters – 1,01,771
Others-4
PNN