Bhubaneswar: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Congress party have ramped up their campaign for the high-stakes Nuapada bypoll in Odisha, scheduled to be held a week from now i.e, on November 11.
The impending by-election has emerged as one of the keenly contested political battles in Odisha in the recent years. The three major political parties in the state have deployed a battery of politicians and activists to woo voters in Nuapada.
The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of sitting BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia on September 8. Dholakia had been elected to the Odisha Assembly from Nuapada seat for four times since 2004.He first won the Assembly election from Nuapada as an Independent nominee and then retained the seat in 2009, 2019 and 2024 on BJD tickets. He had also served as a minister in the BJD government under the then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Dholakia had defeated independent nominee Ghasiram Majhi by a margin of around 11,000 votes in 2024 Assembly polls. The former minister had secured 61,822 votes while Majhi was polled 50,941 votes.
BJP candidate Abhinandan Panda, the son of former MP Basanta Panda, had to settle for third position with 44,814 votes. Congress candidate Sarat Patnaik secured the fourth position with 15,501 votes.
In a dramatic turn of events, the ruling BJP, under the leadership of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and party state unit president Manmohan Samal, inducted the deceased leader’s son Jay Dholakia into the saffron party and gave him ticket to contest the bypoll.
The Congress party picked Majhi, a tribal leader, as its nominee while the BJD, under the leadership of five-time former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, fielded former minister and woman leader Snehangini Chhuria for the by-election. The BJP is keen to snatch the Nuapada Assembly seat from BJD, the principal Opposition party in the state. It seems that the ruling party is trying its best to capitalize on the sympathy factor by fielding Jay Dholakia in the bypoll.
Ahead of the imposition of Model Code of Conduct, the state government had announced several development projects for Nuapada. Moreover, the Chief Minister, who had visited Nuapada a couple of times recently, is slated to visit the poll-bound constituency for convassing for Dholakia.The BJP has deputed altogether eight ministers, half of its Council of Ministers in Odisha, to campaign for party candidate in the bypoll. The ministers have been assigned the responsibility of one zone each in Nuapada to canvass for the ruling party nominee.
In addition to this, Deputy Chief Minister KV Singhdeo and senior BJP leader Jaynarayan Mishra have been given the overall charge of BJP campaign for the by-election. The party is showcasing the ‘achievements’ of the Union Government and the BJP government in Odisha to attract the voters. The Naveen Patnaik-led party is leaving no stone unturned to retain Nuapada Assembly seat in the by-election. Patnaik himself hit the campaign trail on November 3 for BJD nominee for which the regional party has deputed at least 50 of its leaders, including many former ministers and sitting MLAs, to spearhead the campaign. The Opposition party is highlighting the ‘failures’ of the BJP government in the state and the ‘all-round progress of Odisha’ during its uninterrupted rule from 2000 to 2024. By fieldling Chhuria in the bypoll, the regional party is trying to woo the women voters.
The popularity as well as the relevance of the BJD and its supremo Naveen Patnaik in Odisha politics will be dented if the party fails to retain the Assembly seat.