Naveen To Contest From Western Odisha!

Bhubaneswar: BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday hinted at the possibility of contesting from a constituency in western Odisha.

“My party’s leaders from western Odisha have requested me to contest from a constituency in this region and I am considering their proposal,” the Chief Minister told mediapersons here.

BJD sources said senior party leaders met the BJD president at Naveen Niwas and urged him to contest from western Odisha, as it would then send a strong signal that the regional party stands for the development of the region, billed as backward for long. It could also help ward off the BJP challenge and help the ruling party score some political brownie points.

Of the 30 Assembly constituencies in western Odisha districts, the BJD had won 17, the BJP seven, the Congress four and others two seats in 2014.

The decision has to be taken by Naveen and it is still not clear whether he will leave Hinjili. If he decides to contest from western Odisha, a suitable candidate will have to be fielded from Hinjili, the sources said.

Naveen, who launched his political career from Aska Lok Sabha seat, later on contested from Hinjli, which is an Assembly segment under Aska. He has been representing Hinjili assembly seat since 2000.

The BJD has been working hard to improve its strength in the western districts after a good show by the BJP in the 2017 Panchayat elections. For the by-election in February last year in Bijepur, the regional party picked Rita Sahoo, widow of former Congress MLA there, Subhal Sahoo, and wrested the seat from the Congress.

Ahead of the 2019 polls, it has roped in strong leaders from the Congress, like Jharsuguda MLA Naba Kishore Das. Former Congress legislator from Sundargarh, Jogesh Singh, also joined the ruling party last month. Earlier this month, former Odisha chief minister Hemananda Biswal’s daughter and Congress leader Sunita Biswal followed suit. Former Congress leader from Lanjigarh, Pradeep Disari, was next to embrace the conch.

Hundreds of BJP and Congress workers from Balangir also joined the ruling party in March.

On Saturday, Odisha BJP president Basanta Panda’s nephew Harischandra Panda joined the BJD.