Bhubaneswar: Contesting a direct election after a gap of 15 years, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan is trying to garner support from all quarters while campaigning hard in areas under Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency in Odisha.
On Sunday, he tweeted about his courtesy meeting with noted gynaecologist Raseswari Panigrahi, who recently resigned from the BJD over the party’s decision to field an “incapable person” from the Sambalpur Assembly seat in the upcoming polls.
“I had a courtesy meeting with Sambalpur’s former leader, social worker and eminent physician Raseswari Panigarahi and sought her blessings,” Dharmendra posted on X.
Raseswari, a former MLA, is the sister of former MP Sriballav Panigrahi, who also represented Sambalpur assembly seat and was a minister. The family has a support base in the region.
In 2014 elections, Raseswari wrested the Assembly constituency from BJP by defeating former minister Jayanarayan Mishra, who was then seeking a fourth term, by 9,958 votes. The BJP veteran had won the seat in 2000, 2004 and 2009. However, intra-party squabble in the BJD cost her the seat in 2019 as Jayanarayan emerged victorious by polling 4,380 votes more than her.
She was keen to contest the upcoming polls from Sambalpur assembly constituency but the party initially gave the ticket to former MP Prasanna Acharya and later swapped the MLA candidates, bringing Rohit Pujari to Sambalpur from Rairakhol.
Also Read: Raseswari Announces Retirement From Politics After Quitting BJD Over ‘Incapable MLA Candidate’
Her quitting the regional party was seen as a setback for BJD as Sambalpur LS seat is set witness a high-profile battle for ballot with Dharmendra and BJD organisation secretary Pranab Prakash Das, also a three-time MLA from Jajpur, in the fray.
The Congress has fielded Dulal Chandra Pradhan, a political greenhorn and vice-president of Sambalpur District Athletics Association.
Sambalpur LS seat comprises of Deogarh, Kuchinda, Rengali, Sambalpur, Rairakhol, Chhendipada and Athamallik. And both BJD and BJP have MLAs in three Assembly segments each.
Dharmendra had fought the last election in 2009 from Pallahara under Dhenkanal Lok Sabha seat but lost. He has since been involved in organisational activities and been a minister in Narendra Modi Cabinet as a Rajya Sabha member since 2014. His father, former Union Minister Debendra Pradhan, had won Deogarh Parliamentary seat, which ceased to exist after the delimitation exercise in 2008, in 2000.
While speculation was rife that Dharmendra may either contest from Dhenkanal or Sambalpur, the party fielded him from the latter with local leaders claiming that it would be a safe seat for him since he has the acceptability of the people as one among them being from Talcher in Angul district.
To make the contest interesting, the ruling BJD dared to field a leader from coastal Odisha in Sambalpur, known for a strong bias towards the region. Das, however, is acquainted with the constituency having served as a party observer since March 2023.
When asked about the outsider tag in Sambalpur, Das had earlier said: “My late father Ashok Das and his sister had 60-year relationship with Sambalpur. My family has a strong link and my father stayed in this town for years. Today, I feel like standing in my one home.”
Also Read: BJD’s Pranab Prakash Das, Rohit Pujari Meet Padma Awardee Binod Pasayat In Sambalpur
In 2019 elections, the BJD lost the seat to BJP by a narrow margin of 9,162 votes. The regional party had fielded retired chief engineer Nalini Kanta Pradhan while Nitesh Ganga Deb, scion of the Deogarh royal family, was the BJP candidate.
BJD veteran Prasanna Acharya has also won from the parliamentary constituency thrice in 1998, 1999 and 2004. While Amar Pradhan of Congress won the seat in 2009, the BJD wrested it back by relegating the sitting MP Pradhan to third position in 2014. Suresh Pujari of the BJP secured the second position.
