Odisha Elections 2024: Will BJD Repeat Bypoll Winners Dipali Das, Barsha Singh Bariha & Alaka Mohanty?

Bhubaneswar: Fate of three BJD MLAs, who won bypolls since 2019, is hanging in balance with the party yet to put a stamp on their names for the upcoming twin elections in Odisha.

The Conch party’s first list of 72 MLA candidates included four Assembly constituencies – Bijepur, Bargarh, Attabira and Batli, under Bargarh parliamentary seat. It is yet to announce candidates for the remaining 3 seats – Brajrajnagar, Padampur and Jharsuguda.

Riding the sympathy wave following the assassination of her father former minister Naba Kisore Das and continued popularity of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Dipali Das won the Jharsuguda assembly bypoll by defeating her nearest rival, Tankadhar Tripathy of the BJP, by over 48,000 votes.

The murdered of Naba Das by a police officer on January 29 had necessitated the May 10, 2023, bypoll.

Speculation is rife that the BJD may replace Dipali with her brother, Vishal Das, from the Assembly constituency, and instead field her from Jharsuguda Lok Sabha seat. The sister-brother duo have been carrying forward the political legacy of the late minister, who was a tall leader in western Odisha. Dipali earlier campaigned for party with her father in all constituencies under Bargarh parliamentary seat because of which her name is reportedly being considered as a MP candidate.

Barsha Singh Bariha registered an emphatic win over BJP’s Pradip Purohit in the Padmapur Assembly bypoll in December 2022. The daughter of Bijay Singh Bariha, whose death necessitated the bypoll, won by a margin of 42,679 votes, far more than the winning margin of her father in the 2019 assembly polls.

Padampur bypoll battle was crucial for the ruling BJD after the opposition retained the Dhamnagar assembly seat in the bypoll.

If source are to be believed the survey report from the constituency has put a cloud on her candidature and the party might field her brother, Bhojraj Singh Bariha, from the seat this time.

The ruling BJD had also swept the high octane Brajrajnagar bypoll with a record margin in June 2022. It had then fielded Alaka Mohanty, wife of late BJD MLA Kishore Mohanty, whose demise necessitated the bypoll. She won by a huge margin of over 65,000 votes, defeating Congress’ Kishore Chandra Patel.

It is still not certain if the party will again field her or spring a surprise here.