Out of the seven candidates in the Keonjhar Assembly constituency, Mohan Charan Majhi of the BJP and Abhiram Naik of the BJD are the forerunners for the April 17 polls.
This constituency is known as a non-Congress bastion with the Congress having not been able to win any elections since 1995. This time, Congress candidate Siddheswar Nayak has failed to be a strong challenger to his BJP and BJD rivals.
The BJP’s Mohan Majhi, who was elected in 1999 and 2004, was defeated in 2009 by a close margin by his BJD contestant. With the Modi wave and a mood for a change, he has enthusiastically intensified his campaigning. But he still has to face the strong network of the BJD to reach his goal.
The BJD’s Abhiram Naik, a new face lacks experience in politics, but support of his party workers is his source of strength. The recent campaigning by Naveen Patnaik has also gone in his favour while Modi’s recent campaign here also has a positive impact for his BJP rival. The urban votes of Keonjhar are expected to ultimately decide the fate of the winning candidate.