Bhubaneswar Mayor Polls: Who Will Be BJD’s Right Choice?

Bhubaneswar: The ruling BJD is still searching for its ‘right choice’ for the Bhubaneswar Mayor election scheduled on March 24, though the names of a few possible candidates are being discussed in political circles.

Party sources said no candidate has yet been finalised and the top bosses are thoroughly weighing the pros and cons of all aspirants keeping in view the possibility of a keen contest in Bhubaneswar between BJD and BJP for the mayor’s post, for which direct elections will be held on March 24. It has been reserved for woman. Bhubaneswar had last seen a woman heading its civic body in 1993 when then Janata Dal’s Kiran Bala Mangaraj was elected as Chairperson. Bhubaneswar’s affairs were looked after by a municipality and not a municipal corporation. Biju Patnaik was then Odisha Chief Minister.

The sources further said the party doesn’t want to take chances in Bhubaneswar considering that sitting MP Aparajita Sarangi is from BJP. She won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections though the saffron party lost in all the seven constituent assembly seats. “If the BJD does well in the corporators’ elections and loses the Mayor post then it could cause embarrassment. We would certainly not want that to happen. Hence the party is doing maximum exercise before deciding on its contender for mayor,” said a BJD leader.

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There is speculation about Susmita Bagchi, a noted writer who is still not in the party fold but holding a prestigious position in a government initiative, making it to the final list while names of Iti Samanta, a writer and journalist and sister of party’s Kandhamal MP Achyuta Samanta, and chairperson of Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) Shreemayee Mishra have been doing the round in the political circle for quite some time.

BJD spokesperson Sulata Deo, former chairperson of State Commission for Women Lopamudra Baxipatra and transgender leader Meera Parida are also being considered for the Mayor post. Rosalin Patasani, daughter of former Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Kumar Patasani, is reportedly in the race as well.

Chief Minister and party president Naveen Patnaik is likely to announce the candidate by March 4, the sources added.