Barpalli: Senior Congress leader and former minister Ripunath Seth is back in active politics after a gap of 15 years. This year he has been nominated as the Congress candidate from the high-profile Bijepur Assembly seat in Bargarh district.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will be contesting from this seat apart from his Hinjili Assembly seat in Ganjam district.
This has warmed up the political atmosphere in the constituency.
The nomination of Seth from Bijepur Assembly seat has spread cheer among Congress workers. Seth, who until now was keeping a low profile and was out of the political scene, will try his luck in active politics after a gap of 15 years.
Seth contested from this seat in 1990 as the Congress candidate but was defeated from late Nikunja Singh. He, however, won this seat in 1995 and became a minister in the then Congress government. Seth again contested from this seat in 2000 and was defeated from BJD’s Ashok Panigrahi. Later, he changed his seat to Bhatli but was defeated by a low margin in 2004.
Since then, he remained in the party but distanced himself from all party works.
There were over half a dozen candidates in the race for the Congress ticket from the Bijepur Assembly seat. Among them were a former secretary rank officer of the state government, a senior lawyer and a BJP defector. However, the Congress leaders after much deliberation approved the ticket in favour of Seth.
PNN