Bhubaneswar: The political barometer will be up by a few notches in Jharsuguda on Sunday with BJD president & Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan hitting the campaign trail for their respective parties’ candidates ahead of the May 10 bypoll.
According to sources, Naveen will address an election rally on the outskirts of Jharsuguda town in support of BJD candidate Deepali Das while Dharmendra will participate in roadshows canvassing for BJP candidate Tankadhar Tripathy the same day.
On May 4, senior BJD leaders — Prasanna Acharya, Niranjan Pujari, Debi Prasad Mishra and Pranab Prakash Das — inspected the venue where Naveen is scheduled to hold a meeting. The BJD supremo had initially planned to address a rally via video-conferencing but conceded to the requests of cadres’ in Jharsuguda who wanted his physical presence in the constituency.
The sources further said that Naveen will arrive at Veer Surendra Sai Airport in Jharsuguda at 4:30 pm on Sunday via a special aircraft and then proceed directly to Amlipali ground, the site of the election rally, at 4:50 pm. He will return to Bhubaneswar at 5:15 pm soon after attending the event.
Notably, the CM had addressed three rallies at Jharbandh, Paikmal and Padampur in front of sizeable crowds, seeking votes for party candidate Barsha Singh Bariha, for the December 5 Padampur bypoll last year, which was his first physical campaign in three years.
Dharmendra will address a meeting in the block and start his roadshow from the local bus stand in Jharsuguda town at 4 pm.
The two parties seems to be leaving nothing to chance as Jharsuguda bypoll, necessitated by the murder of health minister Naba Kisore Das, is most probable the last by-election before the twin polls in 2024.
