Jajpur: Considered a traditional bastion of Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Jajpur Lok Sabha constituency is all set to witness an intense fight in the upcoming elections with the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) making all out efforts to capture the politically sensitive seat. While BJP will leave no stone unturned to bring saffron wave in the constituency, it will also be a prestige issue for BJD to save its fortress. Congress has been unable to make its presence felt in the area since 1998 when its candidate Rama Chandra Mallick won the seat. His tenure, however, remained short-lived.
Both BJD and BJP have chosen their poll warriors for Jajpur Lok Sabha seat, while Congress is yet to announce its candidate. BJD has re-nominated sitting MP Sarmistha Sethi, who had put up an impressive show in Jajpur in the last Parliamentary elections. BJP, on the other hand, changed its nominee and brought a new face to take on the regional party as part of its new strategy for the 2024 polls. The saffron party has pitted Rabindra Narayan Behera against BJD’s Sarmistha. Rabindra will be fighting his maiden electoral battle after being fielded by BJP, which had nominated Amiya Kanta Mallick in 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Jajpur.
A glance at the electoral history of Jajpur shows that the BJD has been winning from the Lok Sabha constituency in every election since 1999 when party candidate Jagannath Mallick had emerged victorious. While Mohan Jena won the Lok Sabha polls from Jajpur in 2004 and 2009, Rita Tarai had become the BJD MP from the constituency by winning the elections held in 2014. Sarmistha is a member in the outgoing Lok Sabha after winning from Jajpur in 2019 elections. She had defeated Amiya Kanta by a margin of more than one lakh.
The Naveen Patnaik-led party is again relying on Sarmistha, who was an efficient officer of the Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) before taking a plunge into politics in the run up to the last elections. She all set to hit the battlefield for her second innings. While making the state government’s various welfare and development programmes her main weapon, she is also activating the local party organisation with new energy. Seven Assembly segments under Jajpur Lok Sabha constituency are represented by strong BJD legislators. Moreover, Jajpur happens to be the home district of BJD organising secretary Pranab Prakash Das. Therefore, the fight may not be very tough for Sarmistha this time.
By fielding Rabindra, a well-known figure in the field of information technology (IT), in Jajpur, BJP appears to have surprised many in political circles. He happened to be the director of the Odisha unit of the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Rabindra, who hails from Rasulpur block and Rajendrapur panchayat under Bari Assembly segment in Jajpur, had joined BJP in 2019 after retirement from service.
Closely associated with the saffron organisation at the grassroots level since then, Rabindra was the president of the SC morcha of the state BJP. He is reaching out to the people of Jajpur with BJP’s development agenda. As Congress is yet to name its candidate for the constituency. Political observers are of the opinion that Jajpur is likely to witness a straight fight between BJD and BJP this time.
Terming Jajpur as the epicentre of corruption in Odisha, Rabindra has pledged to champion the cause of the people in the region. “The main problems in Jajpur are corruption, lack of development and cultural and heritage improvement. Jajpur. is the epicentre of corruption in Odisha. I will fight for the people of Jajpur,” he has said.
Jajpur Lok Sabha seat comprises Assembly segments of Binjharpur, Bari, Barchana, Dharmasala, Jajpur, Korei and Sukinda. BJD had won all the seven Assembly seats in the 2019 elections. While BJD will try to keep its status intact, BJP will go all out to put a halt to the victory march of the regional outfit. One has to wait and see if Rabindra will be able to bring success for BJP in the poll battle this time.
