For 12-year-old class six student Surekha Behera, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is the real "hero" and not Odisha film superstar Anubhav Mohanty or Mahesweta Ray.
"Naveen is our 'Priya Neta' (beloved leader). I have been waiting to see him in person," said Surekha while waiting for over three hours to have glimpse of the ruling BJD supremo.
This is not Surekha alone, many young girls and women of different ages are fans of Patnaik though their leader always wears white Kurta and Pyjama.
The women from at least four gram panchayats were waiting for Patnaik who reached Agalpur bordering Balangir, about three hours late. Patnaik drove straight to Agalpur after facing a shoe attack at Kumbhari village under Barpali block.
Agalpur was the last programme of the CM for the day and people in large numbers, mostly young boys and girls, women, and elderly persons, comprised the crowd.
Patnaik on his part only sought blessings of the people for his party's candidate Rita Sahu for the February 24 by-polls.
Asked why she loved Patnaik and described him as "Priya Neta", Surekha smiled back and said, "He has done many things for us, particularly school going girls."
Surekha hails from a poor family and is happy because she and her friends get text books, school uniforms, by-cycle and mid-day meals in schools.
Surekha is a simple village girl who has nothing to do with politics. She is even not a voter, but her feelings towards the CM made him a hero for the women folks in the countryside. Patnaik, on his part, addressing a meeting at Barpali did not forget to woo women while saying that he made Rita Sahu a candidate because of her self-confidence and commitment for public works.
The Barpali block appeared to have tilted towards BJD candidate while opposition BJP has a visible presence in the block. The Congress is seen running behind the BJP as the party started its campaign in a later stage.However, with three more days left for the campaign end, nothing can be said on the fate of Congress as the Kumbhari village shoe throwing incident has caused severe damage to the electoral prospect of the saffron party.
A delay in notification for the by-poll in Bijepur Assembly segment has, however, helped both the BJD and the BJP. While the BJD Government got enough time to implement several populist projects, the saffron party could strengthen its network in three blocks and one NAC area in the constituency.Senior BJP leaders including Union Minister for Textiles, Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani, Union Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram campaigned at different places across Bijepur.
The difference between the campaign by Patnaik and BJP's Union Ministers was clearly visible. While Patnaik refrained from attacking the Centre or taking anybody's name while seeking votes for his party candidate, all the Union Ministers, including Irani, came down heavily on the Odisha Chief Minister.
Taking a review of Patnaik's day- one campaign, he only referred to the Centre only once while saying that the rate of GST was 18 per cent on handloom products. Patnaik said the rate of GST was reduced to 5 per cent after Odisha's demand.
The BJP leaders on the other hand used strong words against Patnaik and his Government while seeking votes for their party candidate Ashok Panigrahi.
Above all, Patnaik's day one activity was more like gentle man's campaign even as he faced shoes attack and criticism from opposition saffron
leaders.