Odisha Elections 2024: Can BJP’s Suraj Again Win Voters’ Heart In Dhamnagar?

Bhadrak: BJP’s Suryavanshi Suraj has emerged as a popular young face in Odisha politics but his political future will be much dependent on how he performs in the electoral battle with BJD’s Sanjay Das and Congress’ Ranjan Sahu in Dhamnagar Assembly constituency.

Suraj’s Craze

Suraj, elected in the by-election in 2022 after the death of his father Bishnu Charan Sethi, is a popular face in Dhamnagar Assembly constituency and the neighbouring areas. Adept in creating an impact through social media as well as offline meetings with people on the ground, he is extremely popular among the youth and a young face at the forefront of state politics. Suraj has been seen actively engaging with people and there were rumours that the saffron party would field him from Bhadrak but he was given a ticket from his home constituency yet again.

New BJD and Congress faces

Only BJP is stuck with its old candidate Suraj, while both BJD and Congress have fielded new candidates. Dr Sanjay Das, a doctor turned politician, who joined BJD in 2022, is the party’s candidate from the constituency. BJD had won the seat in 2009 and 2014 but lost to BJP in 2019. This time again it’s doing its best to capture the Dhamnagar seat. Das has also been seen working very hard to strengthen the party’s cadre in Dhamnagar.

On the other hand, Congress has fielded a youth leader Ranjan Sahu, a former Sarpanch who will be trying his luck as an MLA candidate for the first time.

Will Raju Das spoil the game?

Former Dhamnagar MLA Rajendra Das is back in BJD again. In the 2022 by-election, he contested as an independent candidate after being denied a ticket by BJD. He lost but got more than eight thousand votes. He joined BJP and left the saffron party in protest when the party withdrew his candidature from Soro for the 2024 elections and gave it to Parsuram Dhada. He rejoined BJD. Raju was elected from Dhamnagar in 2009 on a BJD ticket but he was denied a ticket in 2014. In 2019, he lost the elections but got 75,486 votes which was very close to the winner BJP’s Bishnu Charan Sethi 80,111. Raju may have had a fan following in BJP during his short stint there and they may have shifted alliance to BJD along with him. And that may affect Suraj’s vote.

Factions in BJD

A group within BJD has been openly protesting former block chairman Ashok Nayak in Dhamnagar and has made it clear that they will not support the BJD MLA candidate if there is no change in the party leadership. If the state party leadership does not bridge the widening faction, it may be fatal for Sanjay Das’s candidacy.

Bishnu Sethi had won Dhamnagar by a margin of only 4,625 votes in 2019. After his death, Suraj increased the margin of victory to 9, 881 votes. However, Suraj’s by-election victory had much to do with people’s sympathy after his MLA father’s death. This time, he is contesting on his merit. But Raju Das’s reentry into the BJD camp has also changed the equations in Dhamnagar making it difficult to predict who is going to emerge the winner.