Odisha Elections 2024: Will BJD’s New Face Save Its Angul Fort Against BJP’s Warhorse?

Angul: A BJD fort for two and a half decades now, Odisha’s Angul Assembly constituency may see a tough fight between a new BJD candidate and a BJP warhorse.

BJD has been winning from the constituency since the formation of the party. Its candidates have been elected five times since 2000 with Rajnikant Singh having won consecutively four times and Adwait Pratap Singh once. But this time, it’s not Rajnikant but his wife Sanjukta Singh who has been fielded by the party.

She is facing BJP’s Pratap Chandra Pradhan and Congress’ Ambika Prasad Bhatt.

Rajnikant’s Chanakya Niti May Come To Sanjukta’s Aid

Even though the party has fielded Sanjukta, it is Rajnikant, her husband and four-time MLA, who is playing the Chanakya, planning the campaign strategy and also using his political clout in the area to make her win.

Rajnikant quit as Vidhan Sabha Deputy Speaker a few months before the election dates were announced. A faction in BJD had been lobbying against Rajnikant and insisting that the party seniors give the ticket to someone outside the family. But the ticket remained within the family and went to Sanjukta.

BJD had a successful run in the panchayat elections but rebels against Sanjukta may prove a tough ride for the party in the Assembly polls. Bringing them into her fold will not be easy.

BJP Eyeing Angul

On the other hand, BJP’s Pradhan, who is contesting for the third time, has been steadily increasing his vote share in the constituency.

He had given a tough fight to BJD in 2019 elections by bagging 56,565 votes against 65,388 of Rajnikant. In 2014, Rajnikant had received 72,379 votes while Pradhan had polled 52,036. With the Modi wave going strong, the BJP candidate may lead or give a close fight to BJD.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the constituency and his BJD bashing rhetoric may give a massive swing in Pradhan’s favour unless BJD comes up with a strong counter-measure.

BJD’s Blueprint To Save The Fort

In order to protect its Angul fort, the BJD brought in Chief minister Naveen Patnaik as its star campaigner. If BJP is raking up the issue of Odisha Asmita, BJD is calling it the saffron party’s crocodile tears and showcasing welfare schemes like Biju Swasthya Kakyan Yojana (BSKY), Mission Shakti, Laccmi Bus and 5T School Transformation programme as part of its people-centric governance.

Congress Shrinking, BJP Rising

Even as the election is fought mostly between BJP and BJD, the Congress votes would determine the winner. Since the marriage between BJD and BJP broke in 2009, the BJP has been constantly eating into Congress share.

This time, former district president of Congress Biplab Jena, who joined BJD, may contribute to swing the polling either way as his supporters may shift to any party.

Angul is going to polls in the third phase of election in the state on Saturday.