Bhubaneswar: If there was one seat that was being followed closely in Odisha in this election, it was the Kendrapara Parliamentary constituency.
Both Anubhav Mohanty of BJD and BJP vice president Baijayant Panda had put all their might and resources to win the popular mandate of the voters. After a tough contest, Anunhav won the seat by 1.52 lakh votes.
In the end, it has turned out to be the mother of electoral battles in Odisha in 2019.
What was at stake was not a Parliamentary seat per se but a lot more for both the ruling BJD and the BJP. Both sides had made it a high-octane prestige issue with PM Narendra Modi campaigning for Baijayant and CM Naveen Patnaik, making an exception, stayed overnight and canvassed for votes for his party’s nominee.
