Patkura Polls: A Fixed, Friendly Match Between BJD & BJP, Claims Congress

Bhubaneswar: The Congress on Sunday claimed Bijoy Mahapatra, the BJP nominee for the forthcoming Patkura Assembly poll, was a ‘guinea pig’ candidate.

“The fact is that BJD and BJP are contesting a friendly match in Patkura and it is fixed. The saffron party has made Bijoy a guinea pig as the Chief Minister does not want to see his face in the State Assembly,” Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati told mediapersons here.

The Congress leader also said that the war of words between these two parties during the elections was an eyewash as they had a tacit understanding.

In his reaction, Mahapatra said that the Congress leader should first focus on the performance of his own party before making such wayward comments. “The election in Patkura is a matter of pride for BJP. BJP and BJD are contesting the election on their own,” he added.

Justifying that no fixing has been done in the Assembly election, the BJP leader argued, “Why the BJD president, who had supported the BJP candidate for Rajya Sabha by-polls, is not doing the same in Patkura?”

Ridiculing the BJD poll campaign in Patkura, Mahapatra said no leader or worker of the ruling party has been seen at any of the villages in the constituency so far.