Campaigning of political parties has gained momentum in the Jeypore Municipality. There are over 70,000 eligible voters in the civic body.
A total of 120 candidates are in the fray, out of which 28 candidates are from BJD, 27 from Congress, 18 from BJP, four from CPI and 53 are Independents. In ward 26, the BJD candidate was already declared uncontested. A team of senior Congress leaders, led by State party president Jaydev Jena, has started campaigning in Koraput district. The team comprises among others, former Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang, former MP Hema Gamang, leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh, AICC secretary Odisha in-charge Subhonkar Sarkar, Nabarangpur MP Pradeep Majhi, former MlA Tara Prasad Bahinipati and DCC president Minakshi Bahinipati. The party has already held a mammoth motorcycle rally at Koraput and Jeypore on Tuesday. It was a remarkable show just a day before Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was scheduled to visit Koraput.
Speaking at a meeting, Jena said the response from people was encouraging. lack of development and corruption in the Jeypore municipality in the last two terms of BJD has made the voters rely on Congress, he opined.
Former MlA Taraprasad Bahinipati said Congress leaders and workers were holding meetings on a regular basis. He claimed that they were receiving tremendous response from the voters. On the other hand, BJD campaign was being managed by Minister Rabi Narayan Nanda and Koraput MP Jayaram Pangi. Political observers felt that the real contest is between the Congress and BJD this time.