Odisha Elections 2024: Is BJD’s Prasanna Acharya Unhappy With Sambalpur Assembly Nomination?

Bhubaneswar: Senior BJD leader and former Minister Prasanna Acharya is stated to be unhappy over the party’s decision to field him from Sambalpur Assembly seat for the upcoming elections.

Acharya is reportedly reluctant to contest from Sambalpur as he was interested to contest from Rairakhol Assembly constituency from where he was elected in 2009.

The ruling BJD, which announced candidates for nine Assembly seats on Thursday, has renominated former minister Rohit Pujari from Rairakhol constituency and fielded Acharya from Sambalpur.

As per reports, shifting of Acharya to Sambalpur seat has triggered resentment among local leaders and workers who were aspiring for a ticket from the seat. Former MLA Raseswari Panigrahi is reported to be among the prominent ticket aspirants from Sambalpur.

In view of the complicated political scenario, Acharya reportedly met BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the Naveen Niwas in Bhubaneswar and requested him to reconsider the decision. Before meeting Naveen, he was stated to have held discussion with BJD organisational secretary and Sambalpur Lok Sabha candidate Pranab Prakash Das on the issue.

Sources said Acharya was nominated for the Assembly seat as he was reluctant to contest the Lok Sabha elections this time from Bargarh from where he was defeated by BJP’s Suresh Pujari in 2019. He had requested the party leadership to consider nominating him instead from Rairakhol Assembly constituency.

The regional party has shifted constituencies of Acharya, one of the founding members of BJD, several times during his long political career. Acharya was elected to the Lok Sabha from Sambalpur thrice in 1998, 1999 and 2004 after which he was asked to contest Assembly elections in 2009 from Rairakhol.

He was shifted to Bijepur in 2014 Assembly election and was defeated by Subal Sahu of Congress by 458 votes. After that Acharya was nominated to Rajya Sabha.

Acharya, who was strengthening his base in Rairakhol over the last around two years, was hopeful of being fielded from the Assembly seat particularly after Rohit Pujari was removed from the ministry. Rohit, who was elected from Rairakhol in 2019, was also believed to have been sidelines in the party in recent past. However, Acharya’s hopes were shattered after the ruling BJD re-nominated Rohit.

Acharya is reluctant to contest from Sambalpur primarily because of opposition from certain quarters. Supporters of Raseswari Panigrahi and state BJD general secretary Siddharth Das are stated to be against Acharya’s nomination. Moreover, party workers belonging to certain camps consider him an outsider as he hails from Bargarh district.

The battle in Sambalpur is going to be crucial for Acharya as he is pitted against BJP heavyweight  Jayanarayan Mishra, Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly. It may turn out to be an uphill task for him if he fails to get the support of party leaders like Raseswari and Siddharth Das. Acharya is not keen to try his luck in Sambalpur as he is not sure of party workers at the grassroots level owing allegiance to local ambitious leaders.