The BJD’s ‘star’ MP Siddhant Mohapatra is finding it very tough in his Brahmapur lok Sabha constituency this time.
This is both because of the Congress having put up its prominent leader and former Union Minister Chandra Sekhar Sahu against Mohapatra and senior CPI(M) leader Ali Kishore Patnaik emerging as a major hurdle for him to retain his seat.
Besides, the BJP has fielded former Assembly Deputy Speaker Rama Chandra Panda in the constituency who hopes to ride on the Narendra Modi wave.Siddhant Mohapatra, also a noted film actor, in 2009 had won the seat by defeating Sahu. But significantly, in the 2009 general elections, the BJD had a seat adjustment with the left parties. And the absence of a pre-poll pact with left parties this time may work against the BJD in this constituency where there are considerable bases of the CPI(M) and the CPI.
It may be noted that the Brahmapur lS constituency, spread over seven Assembly segments in Ganjam and Gajapati districts, has returned Congress candidates for as many as 12 out of 15 times. The exceptions were the first general election in 1952 (CPI), 1999 (BJP) and 2009 (BJD).This time, the presence of left parties’ candidates in some Assembly segments is very likely to lead to division of last-time votes for the BJD. This would be a gain for the Congress and the BJP,analysts feel.
According to political observers, Ali Kishore Patnaik of the CPI(M) will get about 40,000 votes in the Brahmapur Assembly segment alone, which would harm the BJD’s prospects.In this scenario, a keen contest is on the cards in the Brahmapur Parliamentary seat, from where former late Prime Minister PV Narashima Rao had been elected in 1996.