Simulia: Going by the reaction of the public here to the poll campaign, it has become obvious that Balasore’s Simulia Assembly constituency is likely to have a triangular contest between BJD, BJP and Congress even though five candidates are in fray.
In an interesting turn of events, former Congress member Padmalochan Panda is contesting from BJP this time, while BJD has retained its sitting MLA Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi – who had won with 7,937 votes in 2014 and Congress has chosen to field former MP Ananta Sethi from here.
Besides, BSP candidate Pruthibiraj Das and Eastern Janata Party candidate Gangadhar Das are also trying their luck in electoral politics here.
Taking a stock of each of the aspirants, it becomes obvious that BJD continues to hold sway and the challengers must face an uphill battle.
BJP nominee Panda has been experiencing stiff opposition from the old cadre of BJP and has not been able to pacify them as yet. There are clear differences within the party here as it goes to polls. That said, Panda has not lost hope.
“Simulia has not seen any development under the reign of Naveen-led BJD government. I promise to bring change and development in both Simulia and Khaira, if BJP comes to power,” he said.
On the other hand, BJD nominee Jyoti Prakash said, “A number of schemes and development programmes have been taken to upgrade education, health and communication facilities in Khaira-Simulia assembly constituency in the last five years. I promise to make it a model assembly constituency, if I’m voted to power.”
His party already enjoys massive support from the public and has created a base of voters from three zilla parishads from Simulia and four zilla parishads in Khaira block.
Similarly, Congress nominee Sethi is trying to woo voters by promising all round development of the constituency. Even though Congress stands weak in Khaira, Sethi is hopeful of a good share of votes from here. Given his track record as a three term MLA and a minister, he certainly has the experience of drawing crowds.
The assembly constituency is made of 22 panchayats and 3 zilla parishad zones in Simulia block and 37 panchayats and 4 zilla parishad zones in Khaira block. After the formation of the Assembly constituency, only candidates from Simulia block have won the election. So, hopefuls from Khaira block are leaving no stones unturned to make it big this time.