Odisha Elections 2024: Will Baijayant Panda Be Able To Breach BJD’s Kendrapada Bastion?

Bhubaneswar: It is a battle of legacy for BJD in Kendrapada Parliamentary constituency, a seat which it has never lost since the 1998 Lok Sabha polls.

Biju Patnaik, after whom BJD has been named, won the LS seat thrice, in 1977, 1980 and 1984.

The BJD has fielded Anshuman Mohanty, who is the son of Nalinikanta Mohanty, a close aide of Biju Patnaik and a former minister in Naveen’s cabinet who joined the Congress after being expelled from the BJD, from the seat this time. The BJP, is looking to breach the “fortress” with national vice-president and Baijayant Panda, who won the seat twice in 2009 and 2014 on BJD ticket.

Siddhartha Swarup Das is the Congress candidate for the seat.

SONS OF FORMER LEADERS TURN WARRIORS FOR BJD

To retain the Lok Sabha constituency, BJD president Naveen Patnaik made organisational changes and also welcomed into his party fold Opposition leaders, who had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly elections in 2019.

Congress turncoat Anshuman, who is fighting a Lok Sabha elections for the first time, had won from Rajnagar Assembly seat in 2014 but lost the polls five years later. Besides BJD’s strong base, he is likely to benefit from his father’s organisation in Rajnagar, which the latter represented for seven consecutive terms.

The party has fielded Aravind, son of another Biju’s close aide and former minister Bijoy Mohapatra, from Patkura Assembly segment under Kendrapada LS seat. Bijoy, a founding member of BJD, had represented Patkura for four consecutive terms till 2000. He is also known to have a strong base in Mahakalapada, which was formed post delimitation in 2008 and went to polls in 2009.

In the Aul assembly seat, BJD has retained minister Pratap Keshari Deb, whose father Sarat Kumar Deb was once a Biju Patnaik loyalist.

NAVEEN CALLS BAIJAYANT ‘BETRAYER’

Naveen launched a blistering attack on friend-turned-foe Baijayant at a recent election rally, on the outskirts of Kendrapada, and accused him of having betrayed him and the people of the constituency. “I sent a person from Kendrapada to Parliament for 10 years. But he used the opportunity only to expand his business empire, betraying the people of Kendrapada and me,” he said while urging people to vote for ‘Jodi Sankha’ in the last phase of elections in the state.

Speaking at the same venue, BJD leader V K Pandian alleged that Baijayant harboured ambitions of replacing Naveen as Chief Minister. He also accused him of spread rumours about Naveen’s health for more than 10 years. “By the almighty’s blessings, Naveen babu continues to be in good health and ready to serve the state for another 10 years.”

BAIJAYANT RIDING ON MODI WAVE

Baijayant was a BJD Rajya Sabha member from 2000 to 2009. Subsequently, Naveen offered him the pocket borough Kendrapara Lok Sabha, which he won twice. He, however, could not taste victory in the last polls after joining the BJP in 2018 following a fallout with Naveen Patnaik.

There were also discussions in political circles that Baijayant was not keen to contest the elections, but since getting the ticket, he has been campaigning extensively in the constituency, pushing for a change in Odisha while targeting both Naveen and Pandian.

He also hit back at Naveen for making false and baseless allegations. “I joined politics to serve the people and not for property. The Chief Minister should rather list the properties amassed by five Tamils who are ruling the state. I don’t blame the Chief Minister because whatever the Tamil babu is prompting him by holding the microphone before him, he is saying those things,” he said at an election rally in Patkura.

According to political pundits, there has been an upswing in BJP’s popularity since 2019. The former MP has also won some goodwill having intervened to bring back bodies of migrant workers belonging to the district who died abroad, and also helping native workers based in the Gulf.

In his report card, Baijayant also claimed to have brought railway lines to the district to ensure industrial growth. The challenge for him is to get a good number of voters, who are rooting for a change, to his side.

BJP’S HIGH-OCTANE CAMPAIGN

Several senior BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have campaigned for Baijayant.

During his May 29 rally in Kendrapada, Modi attempted to strike a chord with the electorate by bowing down before Kamala Maharana, about whom he had mentioned in his 98th edition of the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme on February 26 for her waste-to-wealth initiative. The PM stressed that he is committed to development of Odisha. “On June 4, Odisha will witness the start of a new journey of development. Today, I have come here to seek your blessings. I extend my invitation to all of you for June 10, as on this date a BJP CM will take oath in Odisha…”

“Baijayant Panda is my dear friend. He is a stalwart and very hard working. You must ensure his victory with a record margin,” he added.

On Tuesday, Modi also posted a letter on X addressed to Panda hailing his contribution “in advancing the cause of socio-economic inclusion within Odisha and throughout the country”.

“For more than two decades, you have been working selflessly for the people of Kendrapada. Your advocacy against malnutrition in India’s villages raises awareness and lays the foundation for progressive change that will benefit future generations. Carrying forward the legacy of your family, you have been relentlessly working for the people, progress, and prosperity of Odisha,” Modi wrote, wishing him victory in the Lok Sabha polls.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also addressed a Jan Sabha at Patkura. “Unlike BJD which is working in self-interest, BJP is committed to the welfare of Kendrapada and our candidates have a proven track record of delivering on their promises,” he said.

DEFECTORS CAN TURN SPOILERS!

In another blow to Congress, the BJD weaned away former minister Ganeswar Behera and fielded him from Kendrapada Assembly segment. The regional party soon saw two of its women leaders – Sipra Mallick and Gitanjali Sethi – switching sides to Congress and BJP, respectively. And they are also in the poll fray from the Assembly seat.

Sipra had defeated Ganeswar from Kendrapada Assembly seat in 2014.

The BJD, which had hoped to consolidate traditional Congress votes in its favour by fielding Ganeswar, is also facing a similar danger here and it can have a direct impact on the Lok Sabha race.

Meanwhile, actor-turned-politician Anubhav Mohanty, who had won the seat for BJD in 2019 by defeating Baijayant by a margin of around 180,000 votes, has switched allegiance to BJP. His lack of connect with his constituents after becoming MP also appears to have hurt BJD here. Anubhav’s was more in news for his long and bitter legal battle with his ex-wife Varsha Priyadarshini, who is now the BJD candidate from Badachana assembly constituency.

WHICH WAY WILL MINORITY VOTERS TILT?

The BJD is confident of getting support of around one lakh Muslim voters in the constituency, besides its traditional support base of women and beneficiaries of various welfare schemes, and the sizeable Bengali-speaking electorate in Rajnagar and Mahakalapada assembly constituencies.

BSP MP candidate from the seat Sekha Sadika Hosen, however, can make a dent in its minority vote bank.

THE ASSEMBLY SEATS & VOTE SHARE

While the BJP has never ever won from here, currently all the seven assembly seats falling under this Lok Sabha constituency are being held by the BJD.

The regional party’s vote share in Kendrapada LS seat also shot up to 50.88% in 2019 from 35.04% in 2014. Similarly, Baijayant helped BJP improve its vote share to 38.53 from 10.4. However, Congress’s vote share, which was 26.18% and 25.12% in 2009 and 2014 respectively, drastically dropped to 9.21% in 2019.

However, factionalism and dissent in the parties can impact the result this time.