The Jajpur Assembly constituency may witness a triangular contest between sitting BJD MlA Pranab Prakash Das, Congress’ Santosh Nanda and BJP’s Jagannath Samal.
Pranab Das, son of veteran Janata Dal leader Ashok Das, hopes to retain the seat, banking on BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s image and development works done by Das Senior while both the Congress and BJP are out to upset BJD plans.
However, the BJP’s Jagannath Samal expects that the Narendra Modi wave would help him win the seat this time. “My first priority is to rebuild the 700-metre bridge at Rudhia village. The bridge, considered the lifeline of Jajpur town, collapsed in the 2011 floods, cutting off 34 gram panchayats from mainland.”
He also promises to open an AIIMS branch at Panikoili, the heart of the district, and put Jajpur on the railway map. A Rs 1-lakh insurance coverage to every poor family in the constituency and regaining the lost glory of the Biraja Pitha are also parts of his poll promises. “I will develop Biraja Sakti Pitha into a major tourist destination. The initiative will also create jobs for locals,” Samal claims.
Congress’ Santosh Nanda says, “Jajpur has roads with potholes, poor healthcare and lack of drinking water supply system. The BJD Government has failed to do any developmental works in Jajpur for which the voters will favour me.”
“After the collapse of the bridge, the then Finance Minister Prafulla Ghadai promised to build a new bridge within a year. But the construction work is yet to start," Nanda points out."The people of the area are suffering immensely due to non-availability of proper communications. The delay in construction of the bridge has affected business of the shopkeepers," said Muhammad Ramzan, a businessman of Jajpur
Political analyst Ramesh Sahoo said the BJP has an advantage due to the Modi wave in the country. Jagannath will win this time as the Congress’ image has received a setback due to a series of scams by the UPA Government. The BJD is also no better with multi-crore mining and chit fund scams, he said.Pranab Das claimed that the Government has already granted Rs 25 crore to build a new bridge at Rudhia.