The BJP candidate from Pipli Assembly constituency, Ashrit Pattanayak, talks to Manish Kumar of Orissa POST about his plans, campaign and what can go wrong for the BJD. Excerpts:
Pipli is considered to be a stronghold of BJD. How do you plan to invade their fort?
The Modi wave is much stronger than the BJD’s influence. People in Pipli and Delang are now supporting our party. They are very happy with the governance and policies of the Modi government. They know that voting for the BJP will ensure the development of this area.
You have prior experience of contesting polls and this time the BJD candidate is a newcomer. Will this help you?
The people of the region do not want dynastic rule. So he will not have much support in Pipli. Though a BJD leader was voted from the region for almost 32 years, the region is still deprived of the basis amenities. The people of Pipli and Delang believe in democracy and will reject dynastic rule this time.
What are the major issues here that might go against the BJD?
There have been no development activities in the constituency under the BJD rule. Neither the MLA nor the Chief Minister ever focused on this area. During my visit to the constituency I have seen the apathy of the government towards this area. There are many issues but the BJD neglected them all.
The BJD has alleged that BJP is using money power in this by-poll …
It is not the BJP but the BJD which is using money power in every election. They are trying to create a contradictory scene to gain political mileage. Such allegations are wild and used to distract the voters from the real issue of underdevelopment here.
Several ministers, MLAs and MPs are now campaigning for BJD? How will you counter that?
We have several dedicated party workers who are working hard to spread the message of development works undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apprise the people of the misrule of the BJD. We are talking to them about the people-centric governance of Prime Minister Modi.
What are your key poll promises to the electorate?
We are promising the people of establishing fear-free governance. We plan to bring development to this area if I am elected from this seat. We are consulting various people here and winning their goodwill. We are also taking their suggestions on how we can collectively move together.
Why should the people vote for the BJP?
It is the BJP that has been framing and implementing pro-people and pro-poor policies and taking care of the interests of all sections of the society. This is the party that takes everybody together in governance.