Senior Congress leader Union Minister Srikant Jena is reportedly undecided whether he will contest the upcoming elections.
Sources close to him said on Wednesday that he may convey the party high command that he is not willing to seek re-election this time in view of his onerous responsibility of being the chairman of the State Congress Campaign Committee.
If he is confined to the campaigning for his own election, the party’s electioneering across the State would be affected, especially at a time when the party’s rank and file are demoralised in the wake of desertion of a number of party leaders to join the ruling BJD, the source said. Jena’s aide, who informed about his (Jena’s) latest contemplation, admitted that his critics would try to accuse him of shying away from a contest himself for the fear of losing the prestigious battle. But Jena, at the same time, has the task of delivering results as the head of the party’s campaigning mechanism, he argued.
Asked about Jena’s own election prospects this time, the source asserted that there should not be any doubt on this count in view of the fact that Jena had won the Baleswar lok Sabha constituency by an impressive margin of votes in the 2009 elections confronting a strong pro-BJD wave in the State. And in this respect, he was the only Congress candidate to be elected to Parliament from the entire coastal Odisha, he pointed out.
The source said that if Jena seeks re-election from Baleswar or even chooses to contest from his old native Kendrapada lok Sabha seat, he has a very fair chance of victory. The question now, only less than a month before the polls, is how to mount an aggressive campaign to take on the BJD throughout the State to ensure a big win for the Congress as a whole, Jena’s aide said.