Patapur: The Sanakhemundi Assembly constituency was well known as Kabisuryanagar earlier. At that time late Gobind Pradhan of the Communist Party defeated late Brudaban Nayak and was elected as the first MLA of Kabisuryanagar. He was an MLA from 1952 to 1957.
In 1957 Assembly elections, Congress fielded the queen of Badakhemundi as its candidate. She defeated the queen of Sanakhemundi and won the seat.
In 1962 Assembly elections, the Congress fielded late Raghunath Mohapatra of Panada as its candidate. He defeated late Chandra Mekap of Digapahandi and won.
The Kabisuryanagar constituency was formed in 1967. At that time late Sardar Dandapani was fielded as an MLA candidate by the Communist Party. He defeated late Radhagobind Sahoo of the Congress and won Kabisuryanagar Assembly seat.
In 1971, the Communist Party fielded Sadanand Mohanty as its candidate from Kabisuryanagar. He defeated Udya Pratap Singhdeo of the Congress and became an MLA.
In 1974, Sadanand Mohanty was elected MLA again after he defeated Madhusudan Mohapatra of Pragati Party in this constituency.
In 1977, Tarini Charan Pattnaik of the Congress defeated Radahagobind Sahoo and was elected MLA. In 1980, the Congress fielded late Radhagobind Sahoo, and he defeated late Laxmi Naryan Choudhry of the Lokdal Party.
In 1985, late Radhagobind Sahoo was elected again as MLA after he defeated CPI’s Nityanand Pradhan.
In 1990, Nityanand Pradhan defeated late Harihar Swain of the Congress and was elected MLA.
Nityanand Pradhan was elected MLA again after he defeated late Ladoo Kishore Swain of the BJD.
BJD’s Ladoo Kishore Swain avenged his loss by defeating CPI leader Nityanand Pradhan in 2004 Assembly elections in Kabisuryanagar.
In 2009, the Sanakhemundi constituency was carved out. At that time former chairman Ramesh Chandra Jena of Sankhemundi block contested from the Congress and won.
In 2009, Naryan Reddy of the BJD contested from Sanakhemundi. The BJP fielded former Dharakot king, late Kishore Chandra Singh Deo, as its candidate.
The CPI lost its grip over Sanakhemundi after its strong leader Nityanand Pradhan left the party and joined the BJD.
In 2014, the BJP fielded the son of Podamari king Vir Kishore Deo, the BJD fielded Nandini Devi while the Congress gave ticket to Ramesh Chandra Jena.
The BJD’s Nandini Devi won with a big margin as the public had full faith in her and in the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The Congress, the BJD and the BJP have already announced their candidates in Sanakhemundi.
The Congress has fielded Ramesh Chandra Jena and the BJP Bijay Kumar Swain. The BJD has again picked Nandini Devi as its candidate.
The general impression is that the BJP won’t be able to play its game here even with the strong leadership of Narendra Modi.
The BJP is not on a strong wicket due to infighting among party workers and choosing the candidate without considering their views.
Although Bijay Kumar Swain was selected as the BJP candidate, his popularity is on the wane due to his weak leadership. He is also entangled in some cases. Some BJP workers joined BJD after Bijaya was declared the BJP candidate.
The BJD is likely to bank on the strong leadership and personality of Nandini Devi. She has proved herself popular in Sanakhemundi, and has also brought some development here.
PNN