Bhubaneswar: Putting to rest all speculation about its candidate in Korei Assembly constituency for the upcoming elections in Odisha, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Thursday fielded Sandhyarani Das, mother of party’s organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das, from the seat.
In a big surprise, the ruling BJD announced the name of Sandhyarani, wife of late Ashok Das, who happened to be a heavyweight leader of Janata Dal during the legendary Biju Patnaik in the region. However, observers wonder as to why the Naveen Patnaik-led regional party nominated her for Korei seat.
Proxy Candidate For Bobby
It may be noted that senior BJD leader Pranab Prakash Das, popularly known as Bobby, is contesting from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat in the upcoming elections, leaving his home turf Jajpur. He is engaged in a high-profile fight with senior BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the poll can throw any result. As per poll observers, Bobby’s defeat in Sambalpur cannot be entirely ruled out also. Therefore, an arrangement has probably been made in Korei as part of a backup plan. It is said that his mother Sandhyarani has been fielded as a proxy for Pranab. If he wins from Sambalpur, someone from his family will be there to look after BJD affairs in Jajpur.
Notably, Pranab and Minister Pritiranjan Gharai had come face-to-face over Assembly ticket from Korei. Both were eager to gain control over the mineral-rich Korei belt. Actor and former MLA Akash Das Nayak was also shown the door following which he quit BJD and joined BJP. Akash is contesting from Korei Assembly seat as BJP candidate. A section of leaders in BJD was lobbying for party ticket to Pritiranjan’s wife Jhilik this time, while another group was pressing for nomination of Bobby’s brother Bhabaprasad Das from Korei. Finally, Korei ticket has been pocketed by Bobby’s family.
Korei was once a stronghold of late Ashok Das, who was elected as MLA from the constituency five times between 1974 and 2004. Congress won the seat once as its leader Ramachandra Khuntia was elected from Korei in 1985. BJP’s Sanjita Mohanty had won from Korei in 2004 elections when the saffron party was in alliance with BJD. In 2009, Pritiranjan won the seat on BJD ticket, while Akash got elected in 2014 and Ashok Kumar Bal of the regional party in 2019. Now, BJD has played a master stroke by fielding Sandhyarani in her late husband’s fortress.
With BJD nominating Sandhyarani for Korei seat, political observers have started raising questions about the ruling party’s one-family-one-ticket rule. As per the rule, Bobby’s brother-in-law Arindam Roy was stated to have been denied ticket. The actor-turned-politician quit BJD and joined BJP apparently after being denied ticket to contest the upcoming elections.
