Most veteran leaders and MlAs in Kendrapada district seem to have lost public trust as their actions have failed to match their words in the last five years.
The Patkura Assembly segment can be taken as an example. It is an important and politically sensitive segment and home turf of several State-level leaders like Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Bijay Mohapatra, Archana Nayak, Jayant Mohanty and others.
This time, the electorates of Patkura are upset with their sitting BJD MlA Bed Prakash Agrawal. In last five years, he has failed to remain in touch with the voters as he was sick. Though several developmental works were undertaken by the Naveen Patnaik Government, but corruption ruled the roost. Due to unholy nexus of the Agrawal henchmen and BDOs of Garadpur and Derabish blocks, several scams took place in Patkura.
While the real beneficiaries failed to enrol their names in the poverty alleviation projects like IAY, PDS and Biju Gramin Jyoti Yojana, at the same time, sub standard repair works were done in river embankments and breach sites. So the voters have turned their back to support Agrawal. If he further gets BJD ticket, then the grass root party workers might not come to the front to campaign for him as they were neglected by the MlA in last five years.
Bijay Mohapatra may be fielded for the seat from BJP as it is his home turf. His own popularity and image apart, the rising popularity of Modi may produce thousand of votes in favour of the BJP and add to the winning prospect of Mohapatra. If the Congress party leaders get united then a neck-and-neck triangular fight may be witnessed this time here. Congress leaders like Jayanta Mohanty, Chinmaya Behura, Narayan Swain and Kulamani Rout are in the race for getting tickets.
Some of the prominent aspirants from BJD are Ganesh Chandra Samal, Rabi Samal, Santanu Nayak, Annanta Narayan Tripathy, Akhaya Tripathy, Prakash Nayak, Pratap Rudra Deb and others. In case Agarwal is not given ticket this time, any of these leaders may be taken for consideration. Meanwhile, former Energy Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak is also lobbying to field his brother Santanu Nayak from the seat in BJD ticket.
According to political pundits, BJD aspirant Ganesh Chandra Samal might be preferred this time by the party boss for his straightforwardness, clean image and popularity among the voters.
Samal, who does not have any back up, was a student union leader. He was the secretary of Kendrapara College student union. His father was a follower of late Biju Patnaik. Samal had been injured in a road mishap at Sarala road while he was returning with his supporters from a Biju babu’s meeting. like his father, he is an ardent follower of the late Chief Minister. Samal too had been injured by the police lathicharge in a Biju rally at Bhubaneswar in 1989.