The multi-factional Congress party in the State is having a unique experience in Cuttack district, where the grand old party is projecting a unified face. The newfound cohesiveness in the party is determined to give the ruling BJD candidates in all the constituencies of the district a run for their money.
“This has been possible more because of the effort put in by the party candidate for the Cuttack lok Sabha seat Aparajita Mohanty, the popular cine star, who had been entertaining the filmgoers of the State for last 30 years,” said an old guard of the party.
The film star has even been able to bring the sworn enemies OPCC general secretary Suresh Mohapatra and Cuttack city Congress president Muhammed Moqim together. Both Mohapatra and Moqim are contesting the next month’s Assembly elections from the neighbouring constituencies of Choudwar-Cuttack and Barabati-Cuttack, respectively.
“Being an ardent Congress sympathiser all these days, I was at pains to see the debacle of the party. Now, I am making a humble attempt to bring all factions of Congress party together and revive its old glory,” Aparajita said while addressing the media here on Friday.
She said she would work for the cause of the women in the State and ensure that all Central Government programmes are properly implemented in her constituency. All the MlA candidates of the Congress coming under the Parliamentary constituency were present when Aparajita addressed reporters.
With the nomination papers of the BJD, BJP and Congress candidates found valid during scrutiny on Thursday and they unlikely to withdraw from the race, a triangular contest is in the offing for the prestigious Cuttack lok Sabha seat in next month’s elections.
Banking heavily on the Modi wave BJP candidate Samir Dey and hoping that her large number of fans would rally behind her new avatar, Aparajita Mohanty of the Congress are determined to give the sitting MP Bhartruhari Mahtab of BJD a run for his money.
Mahtab, the editor-turned-politician, who has been returning to lok Sabha from this constituency for last four consecutive terms, is again banking on the charisma of his party boss and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and is very confident that Cuttack voters will once again repose faith in him.
Claiming that Mahtab has lost the confidence of people, Samir Dey feels that constant neglect to Cuttack by the BJD Government and the poor performance of Mahtab as the MP, the voters here have begun to alienate from the regional party. “The Modi wave now sweeping across the country has brought these disenchanted voters close to the Saffron party,” says BJP candidate Dey, a former State Minister.
Aparajita’s ‘star’ effect: Cuttack Congress factions untied But contrary to the Congress’ position elsewhere in the country, it is experiencing a unique turnaround here as all the warring factions of the party are coming together to give a united fight in this election. This is due to the effort of Aparajita, who is utilising her celebrity status to unify the different factions of the Congress.