It seems certain that either wife Prativa Maharathy or son Rudra Pratap of late Pradeep Maharathy will be the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate in the by-election to the Pipili Assembly constituency.
The Election Commission of India is expected to announce soon the date of the by-poll necessitated by Predeep Maharathy’s death.
That the BJD would choose a member of the Maharathy family as its nominee in the by-poll was amply evident from a statement of Minister Samir Ranjan Dash on Saturday.
Dash said that as he represents the Nimapara constituency, which is adjacent to Pipili, he knows it well that the people of Pipili want someone from the Maharathy clan to be the BJD candidate. This is because the people used to love Pradeep Maharathy and they now want one from the family to step into his shoes and continue to work for the area’s development.
Dash, however, added that it is up to BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik to take a final decision in the matter.
Political observers are of the view that Dash, who is considered as a confidant of Patnaik, would not have made the statement without knowing the BJD high command’s mind.