Bhubaneswar: With a fortnight left for by-election to Pipili Assembly constituency, the ruling BJD is looking to retain the seat which has been left vacant after the demise of sitting MLA Pradeep Maharathy in October 2020.
The party leaders will campaign for their candidate Rudra Pratap Maharathy from September 20 to 28 by keeping the COVID protocol in mind, informed BJD’s star campaigner Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak after a meeting of party leaders here on Thursday.
At the meeting at Minister Sushant Singh’s residence in the capital city, it was also decided that small meetings at Ward-level will be organised instead of large gatherings keeping in mind the restrictions imposed by the Election Commission on participation of number of people in the campaigns.
The campaign will be led by party president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in the constituency. However, it has not yet been finalised if he will be going to Pipili or address people on the virtual mode, Nayak added.
Stating that the leaders could not interact with the public for the last three months due to COVID restrictions, Nayak said the leaders have to be active and work towards retaining the seat. The party leaders were in contact with their electorate through phone, he said and added that they have the confidence of winning back the love of the people.
The party will also look to increase the winning margin which had declined during the 2019 election due to various reasons. The BJP, on the other hand, will leave no stone unturned to grab the seat from the ruling party.
Also Read: BJD & Cong Release Lists Of Campaigners For Pipili Bypoll In Odisha
They BJD campaigners are: Pranab Prakash Das,Maheswar Mohnaty,Debi Prasad Mishra, Pinaki Mishra, Pratap Keshari Deb, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Pramilla Mallik, Sanjay Das Burma, Samir Ranjan Dash, Sushant Singh, Snehangini Churia, Priti Ranjan Gharai, Umakant Samantary, Pranab Balabantray, Byomkesh Ray, Bibhuti Balabantray, Tusharkanti Behera, Devi Ranjan Tripathy and Sudhir Kumar Samal.
Pradeep Maharathy had won 7 times from the seat, including 5 times in a row in the year 2000, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019. His demise in 2020 necessitated the by election.
The voting for the bypolls will take place on September 30 (Thursday) and the counting will commence at 8 am of October 3 and the electoral process will conclude on October 5. COVID guidelines should be adhered to diligently. The bye-election was earlier scheduled for May 13 and rescheduled to May 16 due to various reasons.
Also Read: Code Of Conduct Comes To Force For Pipili Bypoll In Odisha
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