In the April 17 elections, 11 candidates are in the fray in the Talcher Assembly constituency, but the real fight, a tough one , will be among those of the BJP, the BJD and the Congress. BJP’s Kalandi Samal, BJD’s Brajakishore Pradhan and Congress’ Sasmita Behera are well-known political figures in the area.
In the 2009 elections too, Samal was the BJP candidate and came out third in the race. But since then, he has been trying his best to be in touch with common people by organising them to serve their interests. BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi recently campaigned for him, after which he appears to be ahead of his rivals.
In 2009, Brajakishore Pradhan, after being denied ticket from the Congress, contested as an Independent and got elected. He continued as a Congress-backed MlA. But just before the recent Rajya Sabha polls, he joined the BJD and then got the party ticket for the Talcher Assembly seat.
The trouble for Pradhan now is that both BJD workers as well as the Congress cadres are not supporting him as he is new in the BJD and had left the Congress in a huff. Most of the promises and commitments he had made to people of Talcher before remained unfulfilled, for which people are unhappy with him. The popularity of BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, who has campagined for him, is now Pradhan’s only hope to win in this election.
Sasmita Behera has been trying to organise all Congress workers and supporters from the block to municipal areas in her bid to emerge victorious. She was the chairman of Talcher block and president of Angul Zilla Parishad with the support of the Congress and has much experience in politics. She hopes to get support from the young mass, from women and from all Congress lovers. However, no State or central level leaders have come to campaign in her support.
Apart from these three candidates, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) nominee Bishnumohan Rath has been holding road shows and door-to-door campaign with his supporters. He hopes intellectuals, educationists, students and youngsters to support him due to the image of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and his promise to make Talcher a corruption-free zone.