President of Ganjam District Congress Committee Bhagaban Gantayat, in a letter to the State Election Commissioner, has alleged that the ruling BJD has adhered to corrupt practices and threats with the help of its henchmen and goons and forced some Congress candidates to withdraw their nominations for elections to the urban local bodies in the district.
The BJD did this in connivance with the police, he alleged. Mention may be made that 13 Congress candidates had filed their nominations for as many wards of the Hinjili NAC, out of which the nomination of the candidate for Ward-11 was rejected by the Election Officer on the day of scrutiny. Gantayat described the rejection of the nomination as arbitrary. Notably, Hinjili is the Assembly constituency of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Gantayat’s letter further alleged that the Congress candidates in the Hinjili NAC are being threatened not to contest by a group of the BJD with hands in glove with the local police. Citing an example, he said Congress candidate Jagannath Gouda, who is contesting in Ward-3 against Gouri Panigrahi of the BJD, is under threat. Panigrahi is the wife of Hinjili NAC Vice-Chairman Pabitramohan Panigrahi, who is reportedly involved in several criminal cases, Gantayat alleged.
The letter also alleged that another group of the BJD consisting of Hrudayanand Mohapatra, Sanjay Panda, Saroj Panda, Sibaram Gouda (ex-Chairman of Hinjili NAC) and Nilamani Pattnaik in connivance with antisocials are threatening the Congress candidates, as a result of which the Congress candidates are extremely scared and not able to campaign in their localities.
Gantayat further alleged that the Hinjili police station has virtually been converted into a BJD office and there is a reign of terror in the whole area. If this situation continues, the so-called free and fair election in the NAC would turn out to be a nightmare. He also alleged that some Congress candidates, including Narayan Behera, were forced to withdraw their nominations following serious threat by antisocials and BJD members with the help of the police and are now afraid of being abducted.
Gantayat said the law and order situation at Hinjili is worse than ever before. He demanded provision of adequate security to the candidates of all opposite parties, more particularly the Congress, for safety of their lives. The copy of Gantayat’s letter was released to the Press here on Thursday. Meanwhile, BJD leaders have also alleged that their candidate for Ward-21 in the Brahmapur Municipal Corporation (BMC) was forced to withdraw his nomination due to threat by his Congress rival.
According to BJP sources, their candidate in Wards 16 and 28 in the BMC were forced to withdraw their nominations due to threat and inducement by the BJD. It appears that the ongoing election process to the urban local bodies in the district is taking a dramatic turn with allegations and counter-allegations by rival parties. The district administration is not found proactive to prevent the role of muscle power and liquor mafias right from the initial stage of the election process which signifies that the electoral scenario is going to be more ominous.