Bhubaneswar, Days after the BJD announced a formidable 52-member campaign team, the ruling BJP has assigned zonal responsibilities to eight senior ministers to ensure the party’s victory in the high-stakes Nuapada by-election scheduled for November 11.
Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo and senior leader Jayanarayan Mishra have been asked to camp in the constituency and coordinate the party’s outreach efforts to wrest the seat from BJD.
Panchayati Raj Minister Rabi Narayan Naik will lead the saffron party’s campaign in Banjari zone, Forest and Environment Minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia in Sundei zone and Fisheries & Animal Resources Development Minister Gokulananda Mallick in Pataleswar zone.
Similarly, Foods Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra have assigned the task of mobilising voters in Jayjangha zone, Commerce and Transport Minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena in Konabhaira zone, School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond in Jogeswar zone.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Mukesh Mahaling and Housing and Urban Development Minister Krushna Chandra Mohapatra have been given the charges of Nuapada NAC and Khariar Road zones, respectively, to coordinate booth-level activities, and engage with local voters to consolidate BJP’s presence in the region.
The 3-Way Fight
The bypoll will also be the first electoral test for Chief Minister Mohan Majhi and state BJP president Manmohan Samal after the BJP historic win in the 2024 twin polls. The CM had reportedly personally taken the initiative to bring Jay Dholakia, son of sitting MLA and former minister Rajendra Dholakia, whose untimely death necessitated the bypoll, into the saffron fold to strength the party’s position in Nuapada.
Jay’s main challenger is Congress nominee Ghasiram Majhi, a veteran tribal leader with a support base of his own, which was evident in the 2024 polls when he got more than 50,000 votes as an Independent to finish second behind Rajendra Dholakia.
Pushed to the wall after the BJD’s first choice Jay joined the BJP, Naveen Patnaik has tried to pull a rabbit out of the hat by nominating Snehangini Chhuria as the party candidate with an aim to prevent its women’s vote bank from completely going to the BJP kitty courtesy the Subhadra scheme, while targeting the SC voters, who have a sizeable presence in the constituency.
Nuapada constituency had long been held by the BJD headed by Naveen Patnaik since 2009, apart from a brief disruption in 2014 when the BJP’s Basanta Panda won.
Former ministers and current and former MLAs – Niranjan Pujari, Arun Sahoo, Pratap Jena, Captain Dibyashankar Mishra, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Pranab Prakash Das, and Pratap Deb, each assigned specific responsibilities for two blocks (Nuapada, Komna) and two NACs (Nuapada NAC, Khariar Road NAC) under the Assembly constituency, are leading the party’s charge in this battle for political legacy and prestige.
Party sources said Naveen Patnaik would also hit the campaign trail for two days on November 6 and 7 and canvas for Chhuria.
In the 2024 assembly election, Dholakia retained the seat with 61,822 votes, while Congress rebel Ghasiram Majhi, who contested as an Independent, polled 50,941 votes, emerging as a close runner-up. The Congress’s official nominee, Sarat Pattanayak, lagged far behind with 15,501 votes, while the BJP candidate Abhinandan Panda finished third, managing just over 440,814 votes.