The BJP seems to have changed its attitude, at least for the time being, towards its senior party leaders Bijay Mohapatra and Rourkela MlA Dilip Ray as its list of star campaigners for the ensuing panchayat elections included their names on Wednesday.
BJP State president Basant Panda, Assembly party leader KV Singh Deo, Union Ministers Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan, MlAs Pradeep Purohit, Rabi Nayak and Radharani Panda, cine starts Sritam Das and Pinky Pradhan are also among the party’s star campaigners. Both Mohapatra and Ray are known for their opposition to the projection of Dharmendra Pradhan as the party Chief Ministerial candidate.On the other hand, the ruling BJD has included many veterans in its list of star campaigners, including Chief Minister and party supremo Naveen Patnaik himself, Ministers Damodar Rout, Bijayshree Routray and Debi Prasad Mishra among many others as an attempt to give a message that the speculation of seniors being ignored in the party is not true at all.
Rajya Sabha members Prasanna Acharya and AU Singh Deo and Surjya Narayan Patro are also included in the list of the star campaigners. MPs Siddhant Mohapatra, Dilip Tirkey and Anubhav Mohanty and MlA Akash DasNayak are also among the other BJD leaders included in the list.
Cine celebrities including Mihir Das, Trupti Das, Kuna Tripathy and Arindam are also included in the list of BJD star campaigners. Both the BJP and BJD have submitted their lists of 40 star campaigners each with the State Election Commission (SEC).