Bhubaneswar: The first phase of the Lok Sabha polls kicks off on Thursday. Four Parliamentary constituencies in Odisha – Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Berhampur and Koraput will vote in this phase.
Here’s a snapshot of each of the constituencies and the candidates who are seeking the popular mandate of voters.
Kalahandi:
Pushpendra Singhdeo (BJD)
Basanta Kumar Panda (BJP)
Bhakta Charan Das (Congress)
This is one of the Lok Sabha constituencies in Odisha where BJP is hopeful of securing the popular mandate of the voters. Though the party’s decision to field the state president and sitting MLA from Nuapada Basant Kumar Panda had raised many eyebrows, he has tried to contain the discord by saying he was born in Kalahandi.
The saffron party had put up an impressive show during the panchayat polls in the district and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held a rally as well recently, slamming both the ruling BJD and the Congress for the plight of the poor.
According to political observers, the fight is between Panda and veteran Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das. Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s rally in the district, they said, has given a huge boost to the party cadres. They are confident that Rahul’s promise of farm loan waiver and the NYAY scheme will polarise the voters towards the grand old party.
BJD, on the other hand, has replaced sitting MP Arka Keshari Deo with MLA Pushpendra Singh Deo who comes from the Kalahandi royal family. The decision, observes said, has upset Arka’s supporters.
Congress had won the seat in 1980 and again repeated the feat in 1984 and 2009. But in the 2014 Parliamentary elections, BJD wrested the seat from Congress. Kalahandi has close to 15 lakh voters.
Nabarangpur:
Ramesh Chandra Majhi (BJD)
Balabhadra Majhi (BJP)
Pradip Majhi (Congress)
Sitting MP Balabhadra Majhi, who had won with a BJD ticket last time is contesting as a BJP candidate this time. The Congress has retained its 2014 candidate and former MP Pradeep Majhi, while the BJD has fielded SC and ST Minister Ramesh Majhi.
After his 2014 defeat, the State Congress Vice President Pradip Majhi has mostly been in the constituency and he was seen leading many local mass movements. The sitting MP Balabhadra Majhi is contesting on a BJP ticket. He had won from BJD last time. This time, the weak organisation of the BJP is a big challenge for him, political observers said. The BJP is banking heavily on the welfare schemes of the Modi government to get votes.
The constituency had drawn the attention of poll observers in 2014 for the second highest votes for NOTA. The BJD candidate had won this seat by a mere 2,042 votes while 44,408 votes were NOTA. The NOTA votes were 42,000 more than the winning margin, the highest difference in any Lok Sabha constituency.
Berhampur:
Chandrasekhar Sahu (BJD)
Bhrugu Buxipatra (BJP)
V Chandrasekhar Naidu (Congress)
The battle in this seat is between veteran politician Chandrasekhar Sahu, who is contesting on a BJD ticket and V Chandrasekhar Naidu, a new entrant in the poll fray. He is contesting the election on a Congress ticket.
BJD’s Siddhant Mahapatra, an actor-turned-politician, had retained this seat since 2019, but the party replaced him with Chandrasekhar Sahu for the 2019 Lok Sabha. Sahu was earlier with the Congress and had served as a union minister in the Manmohan Singh government. Sahu hopes to capture this seat once again, capitalising on the clean image of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Naidu could, however, give him a tough fight as Congress still retains a solid support base. Home to a sizeable number of Telegu speaking voters, this constituency was once represented by late Prime Minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao.
Buxipatra may have the outsider tag levelled against him as Naidu but during his campaigns, he said he belongs to the Digapahandi area. He is also hoping to cash in on the Narendra Modi factor and pull off a surprise victory.
Koraput:
Kaushalya Hikaka (BJD)
Jayaram Pangi (BJP)
Saptagiri Shankar Ullaka (Congress)
A Congress bastion for decades till 2009 when it slipped into BJD control, the tribal-dominated Koraput Lok Sabha constituency is set to witness a keen triangular contest. BJP has fielded tribal heavyweight Jayaram Pangi, who had snatched the seat from Congress in 2009 as a BJD nominee, defeating veteran leader and nine-time MP Giridhar Gamang.
In fact, by nominating Pangi, BJP has transformed the political equations in this constituency, which otherwise would have been a straight fight between BJD and Congress.
While this time, the BJD has fielded the wife of its sitting MP, Jhina Hikaka in its bid to retain the seat, Congress is working hard to bounce back in the segment it lost after decades of dominance in 2009 with the defeat of Gamang.
It has nominated Saptagiri Shankar Ullaka, son of veteran Congress leader and former state minister Ramachandra Ulaka, from Koraput. Despite being new to the political arena, Ullaka hopes to capture the seat, exploiting people’s frustration over the lack of development in the region.
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