Bhubaneswar: Union Minister of Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan will campaign for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Radharani Panda in poll-bound Brajarajnagar in Odisha’s Jharsuguda district on Tuesday.
“The Union Minister will campaign seeking votes for party candidate tomorrow. He will also hold roadshows and address public meetings at Belpahar, Brajarajnagar municipalities and Lakhanpur,” party’s General Secretary Lekhashree Samantasinghar informed on Monday.
Several senior leaders of the state are also likely to join the campaign with Dharmendra.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Bishweswar Tudu held a meeting at Belpahad and requested voters to vote for Radharani.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh are also expected to hit the campaign trail ahead of the bypoll scheduled for May 31.
Though 11 candidates, including five independents are in the fray, Brajarajnagar is likely to witness a triangular fight between BJD, BJP and Congress.
The BJD, which has fielded Alaka Mohanty, widow of late MLA Kishore Kumar Mohanty, whose death necessitated the bypoll, has assigned duties to senior party leaders from western Odisha.
Health Minister Naba Das’ daughter Deepali is campaigning in the constituency along with senior BJD leaders Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak and Debi Prasad Mishra. They held a meeting at Belpahad and exhorted people to cast their votes in favour of Alaka. “If you turn the pages of history, you will surely find out that except for Biju Janata Dal, no other political parties have prioritised women,” Deepali told a gathering.
If BJD insiders are to be believed Deepali was also in the race for the party ticket, but here they are projecting a united front to ensure Alaka’s victory.
Similarly, Pradesh Congress Committee president Sarat Pattanayakenior and senior leaders Jagannath Patnaik and Jaydev Jena, Sarat Pattanayak, legislator Santosh Singh Saluja and Adhiraj Panigrahi have campaigned for party candidate Kishore Patel.
