BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday declared that late Congress MlA Subal Sahu’s wife Rita Sahu would be the BJD candidate for the Bijepur Assembly by-election in Bargarh district.Patnaik’s announcement came as a slap in the face of BJD Rajya Sabha member Prasanna Acharya, who on Sunday had in effect publicly opposed Rita Sahu’s candidature. Acharya being the most prominent BJD leader of Bargarh district seemed to have another person as the Bijepur candidate.
According to political observers, Patnaik hastened to declare his decision to stem the lobbying against Rita Sahu’s candidature. In fact, a Bijepur local BJD leader Prbhat Aditya Mishra, apparently a supporter of Acharya, held a parley with his followers on Sunday as to whom to back as by-poll candidate in place of Rita Sahu.
Moreover, Ashok Panigraghi, who had contested in Bijepur in the 2014 general elections as a BJD rebel candidate after being denied party ticket, on Monday openly declared his opposition to Rita Sahu’s nomination in the by-poll and said there is serious reservation among the local party cadres against the decision in Sahu’s favour.
Naveen Patnaik seemingly thought it wise to preempt a surge of dissidence over the Rita Sahu candidature by making his decision public sooner than later. Otherwise, he could have made the declaration only two days ago on September 23 when Rita Sahu, her son Sumit Sahu and hundreds of their supporters had joined the BJD in Patnaik’s presence in Bhubaneswar.
Acharya as the BJD nominee, who was defeated by Subal Sahu in Bijepur in the 2014 general elections, was impolitic in his assessment about who would be the by-poll candidate.
After all, Patnaik roped in the Sahu family to the BJD fold to filed Rita Sahu as the party candidate to gain from a sympathy vote that would only go to the deceased MlA’s widow Rita Sahu.
Now after Patnaik’s announcement, a chastised Acharya welcomed the boss’s decision, saying the BJD would fight as one to win the Bijepur battle. Still then, as observers feel, Patnaik will have a close watch if any intraparty dissidence continues before and during the by-election, the notification for which is yet to be issued.