Party Spokespersons Lock Horns For Puri Lok Sabha Seat

Bhubaneswar: An interesting battle of word play awaits Puri Lok Sabha seat with the three major political parties — the BJD, BJP and Congress — fielding their respective spokespersons from the seat for the 2019 elections.

With the Congress announcing the name of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee media cell chairman Satya Prakash Nayak as its MP candidate for Puri on Friday, an interesting line-up has popped up. The BJD has stuck to sitting MP Pinaki Mishra, and the BJP has picked Sambit Patra, amid demands for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contest from the seat.

Suave and articulate, senior advocate and two-time MP Mishra has to raise his voice to be heard over anti-incumbency that the ruling BJD has to battle this election, having been in power for four terms. He, however, survived the axe as the ruling party has fielded new faces in 15 of the 18 Lok Sabha seats announced so far.

BJP national spokesperson Patra, who has done well to silence rivals on television debate shows, has already made a few goof-ups and also has been accused of poll code violation. He is also considered an outsider in Puri. A native of Jajpur, he did his MBBS from the SCB Medical College in Cuttack and PG from the Medical College in Burla. He has no activity to reckon with in Puri.

As for his electoral record, he had earlier contested as a BJP ward candidate in the Delhi municipal area and was defeated.

Journalist-turned-politician Nayak had joined the Congress last August and subsequently headed the OPCC’s media communication cell. Speculation was rife that the grand old party would repeat Sucharita Mohanty, who had unsuccessfully contested from this prestigious Puri parliamentary seat in 2014 elections. Chairman of Odisha Pradesh Kisan Congress Amiya Patnaik was also in contention. The party, however, decided to go with the firebrand journalist.

The ruling BJD has been winning from Puri since 1991, except for 1996 when Mishra wrested the seat from Braja Kishore Tripathy on a Congress ticket.