The upcoming election to different cooperative bodies once again has heightened the political fever here. The fight is primarily among three main political parties in Ganjam— BJP, BJD and Congress.
Since the election will be held after a long gap of seven years, cooperative buffs in the district are more enthusiastic and optimistic about the electoral prospects of candidates of their choice. The district administration reportedly organised a preparatory meeting three days back to take stock of the preparedness and formulated strategies for free and fair polls.
According to information available, the election to 659 primary co-operative societies will be held in January in two phases in Ganjam district, and thereafter, election for the prestigious premier first line Cooperative bodies like, Brahmapur and Aska Cooperative Urban Central Banks and Regional Cooperative Societies, etc. will be held.
However, the Government has remained undecided about the election to one of the premier cooperative bodies such as Aska Cooperative Sugar factory managing board for which no election has reportedly been conducted in last 20 years. This will be known only after election to cooperative central institutions is over, sources said.
In regard to preparedness for the election, the ruling BJD seems ahead of other parties. The ruling BJD has already conducted a workshop at Bhubaneswar on Monday on how to tackle the election. The BJD has constituted a State-level coordination committee to monitor the upcoming election.
Alekh Choudhury of Brahmapur has been taken as a member of the committee. According to him, the committee will meet at Brahmapur soon to discuss the strategy for the upcoming election, including mechanisms for its smooth conduct, besides selection of candidate and its management.
Choudhury remained optimistic that like 2007 election, the election particularly to the Brahmapur and Aska Urban Cooperative Banks will come to the BJD pocket. So also the BJD hopes to get a majority in the seats in the ensuing election in other primary cooperative bodies in the district.
In the meantime, BJP district president Bijaya Kumar Swain has decided to convene a preparatory meeting of the party to manage the polls.
Sources also suggest that Swain is reportedly waiting for some of the frontline senior leaders who are currently out of station to be present. Though the BJP does not have substantive grip over the cooperative bodies since last election, but it is quite optimistic that the election would bring surprise result for the party. According to information available, many frontline youth leaders of the BJP are contemplating to contest the election to establish their visibility, sources said.
When contacted, former Deputy Speaker and senior BJP leader Rama Chandra Panda said that the election to the cooperative bodies is not supposed to be done on party line. So, the BJP would support those prospective candidates having clean image and integrity in public life, as most of the cooperative bodies under the BJD rule have not only become defunct, but also become the victims of corrupt practices, fiscal misappropriation and toadies of the party in power.
“If the cooperative institutions are to be revived with a new lease of life, people should elect such candidates above party lines having integrity in public life,” he pointed out.
On the other hand, the Congress party has already prepared for the upcoming cooperative election, said DCC president Bhagaban Gantayat.
Gantayat convened a meeting at the Bapuji Ashram on Tuesday and discussed about the strategies including identifying prospective candidates for the election in which all presidents of Block, Mahanagar and NAC –level Congress organisation attended, sources said.
The party has prepared a preliminary list of prospective candidates for the election, sources said.