Brahmapur: A significant thaw between Brahmapur MP Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi and Gopalpur MLA Bibhuti Bhusan Jena, coupled with the return of former legislator Bikram Panda to active politics, has added a fresh dimension to the political landscape of Ganjam ahead of the upcoming panchayat and municipal elections.
Panigrahi and Jena, who remained political rivals for nearly 17 years, have recently been seen together in public, signalling a new phase in their political relationship. The two leaders exchanged laddus and joined hands at the famous Panchama Ganesh shrine on Ganesh Chaturthi. Panigrahi said they prayed to Lord Ganesh to work together for the development of Ganjam and make it the best district.
The political rapprochement is particularly significant considering their electoral rivalry. Panigrahi won the Gopalpur Assembly seat on a BJD ticket in 2009, 2014 and 2019, while Jena contested against him in all three elections. In 2009, Panigrahi secured 37,612 votes against Jena’s 13,112. In 2014, Panigrahi polled 55,265 votes against Jena’s 35,153, while in 2019 he won with 61,628 votes against Jena’s 58,955.
The equation changed dramatically in 2024 after Panigrahi was expelled from the BJD and joined the BJP. While Panigrahi contested the Brahmapur Lok Sabha seat, Jena fought the Gopalpur Assembly election on a BJP ticket. Jena defeated BJD candidate Bikram Panda with 72,071 votes against Panda’s 63,009, a margin of 9,062 votes.
Panigrahi has also remained politically active in Ganjam in recent months, particularly through his interventions on district development issues and criticism of projects such as the Gate Bazar flyover.
Meanwhile, former Brahmapur MLA and BJD Ganjam president Bikram Panda’s return to public and organisational activity following his release on conditional bail has revived BJD’s grassroots political activities in Ganjam. The Orissa High Court granted him bail on August 31 in the case relating to the killing of advocate and BJP leader Pitabas Panda. The court held that mandatory procedures relating to communication of grounds of arrest had not been followed, while making it clear that the finding did not affect the merits of the pending case.
Bikram, who had remained in custody for more than 10 months, walked out of Brahmapur Circle jail on September 1 amid the presence of senior BJD leaders and supporters.
Since his release, Bikram has stepped up his public engagements and social-media activities, giving renewed energy to BJD workers at the grassroots level. The political narrative surrounding the murder case has also become a point of contention between the BJD and BJP, with BJD leaders questioning the circumstances of the case, while BJP leaders have maintained that the matter is subject to the legal process.
Against this backdrop, the renewed bonhomie between Panigrahi and Jena assumes political significance. Their coming together comes at a time when Bikram, once Jena’s principal electoral rival in Gopalpur and a prominent political figure in Brahmapur, is attempting to re-establish his grassroots presence in entire Ganjam.
The emerging equations are, therefore, being closely watched in Ganjam, where the forthcoming panchayat and municipal elections are expected to test the organisational strength of both the BJP and BJD. The Panigrahi-Jena rapprochement and Panda’s political comeback have already made the district’s grassroots politics more active and closely contested.
The changing equations in Ganjam suggest that old rivalries are giving way to new political alignments, with the local-body elections likely to provide the first major test of these emerging relationships.
