Since at any moment the ECI may issue notification for conducting polls for the Patkura Assembly seat, the BJP and the BJD are devising strategies to ensure they win.
Notably, election in Patkura was put off due to the death of BJD candidate Bed Prakash Agrawalla on April 20, while by-election to Bijepur was necessitated following resignation of CM Naveen Patnaik as MLA from the seat.
Meanwhile, the BJD has fielded Sabitri Agrawalla , the widow of Bed Prakash as nominee for Patkura, but it is yet to declare its nominee for Bijepur. So the ruling BJD recently sent several MLAs to Patkura Assembly segment to start their poll preparations and campaigning for Sabitri to ensure her victory as it has become a prestige issue for ruling BJD supremo to retain the seat once again by ensuring the defeat of BJP nominee Bijay Mohapatra.
A BJD party workers’ meeting for the Patkura poll was organised recently at the hiouse-cum-BJD office of Mahakalapada MLA Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak in Kanchilo village under Korua of Garadapur block. Several BJD MLA and Ministers, including Praffula Kumar Mallick, Ranendra Pratap Swain, Prasant Muduli, Prasant Behera, Ananata Narayan Jena, Sarada Nayak and Debashis Mahanty, were present.
The party is expecting to cash in on sympathy votes for Sabitri, besides CM Patnaik’s image.
The BJP too started its poll preparations as several BJP leaders organised a party meeting at Kendrapada with their workers and supporters and discussed the strategies to give a blow to the BJD. State BJP leaders Manmohan Samal, Manas Mohanty, Bhrugu Baxipatra, Dillip Mallick, Bibhu Tarei, Rama Baliarsingh, Gautam Ray, Bijay Mohapatra, Pravati Parida and the district level leaders of BJP attended.
“We are ready for any challenge in Patkura. The BJD is conspiring to delay the elections here. The local administration will be deployed for its advantage by the ruling party during the polls as it was seen in past elections. But people will vote for Bijay Mohapatra and BJP. The nefarious design will be defeated,” said BJP general secretary Bhrugu Baxipatra.