Even as a buzz is going round that Puri MP Pinaki Mishra may be fielded from the Bhubaneswar lok Sabha constituency, there is a lot of speculations with regard to selection of candidates for the one Parliamentary and six Assembly seats in Puri district this time with BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik still keeping his cards close to the chest.
Presently, five Assembly seats in the district are represented by BJD MlAs, Maheswar Mohanty from Puri, Sanjay Dasburma from Brahmagiri, Samir Dash from Nimapada, Pradeep Maharathy from Pipili and Rabi Mallick from Kakatpur while the Satyabadi constituency is represented by senior Congress leader and Opposition chief whip in Assembly Prasad Harichandan.
Since Patnaik is the sole man to take a final call on selection of candidates and the mystery of who would be chosen this time still hangs on, the aspirants including leaders close to the Chief Minister are yet to be sure of whether they are being considered favourably or dropped. In the marathon process of candidate selection, the BJD boss, who seems to be treading very cautiously, may give priority to winnability as well persons with clean image. Even aspirants who have chances of being elected but are in some way or the other tainted may not be picked up.
Brahmagiri’s Dasburma, who is also the Deputy Government Chief Whip in the Assembly and BJD youth wing president and known for his closeness to Patnaik, has his disadvantages too. Dasburma is one of those frontline leaders who have launched a sustained movement against the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre for not according the Special Category State status to Odisha and showing step-motherly attitude to the State on Phailin assistance, mining royalty and several other issues.
But Dasburma has been allegedly linked to the Puri Ayus doctor murder case. Besides, the recent killing of a slum boy near the Bhubaneswar Club in the capital city after being hit by a BJD vehicle during the arty’s Swabhiman rally which was led by Dasburma has put him in a poor light. Most importantly, the groupism in the Brahmagiri BJD where Dasburma is facing opposition from a section of the party men has also spelt trouble for him.
Similarly, Pipili MlA Maharathy too is allegedly linked to the Pipili Dalit girl’s rape and murder case. The incident which had created State-wide protests led to Maharathy being stripped of his Cabinet post. Though he has a strong support base in his area yet Patnaik is sure to give a second thought before selecting his candidature this time given his avowed stance against corruption and crime.
Puri’s Maheswar Mohanty, after being shot at recently by goons, is still under treatment. Investigations have revealed that he was attacked by the miscreants allegedly recruited by his rivals in the BJD. The case is still sub judice.
One thing that may be lessening the worry of the Puri BJD MlAs is that no heavyweight leader from other parties in the district has meanwhile joined the BJD.