The political atmosphere is gradually warming up in the Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha Constituency and all the Assembly seats under it.
Twists and turns are emerging with each passing day as electioneering by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Congress has started gaining momentum.
Public buzz is now centred on the hectic activities of a rebel faction of the BJD led by corporator Amaresh Jena, who is a strong contender for a ticket in the Bhubaneswar Central seat.
Amaresh has been holding meetings and has made a show of his strength with his supporters at Naveen Niwas to lobby for a ticket. Amaresh’s camp has been opposing sitting MLA Ananta Narayan Jena.
Things took a new twist on Tuesday when 11 former corporators of the Amaresh camp met BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate & sitting Bhubaneswar MP, Aparajita Sarangi and held discussions with her.
However, what the BJP MP and the former corporators discussed was not known immediately.
It is now speculated that if Amaresh is not given a BJD ticket, there is every possibility of his camp merging with the BJP.
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Sources claim that many former and sitting corporators are siding with Amaresh Jena.
Speaking to the media, former corporator, Kishore Mohanty said, "About 35 to 40 former, and current corporators are together. We are waiting for the decision of the Chief Minister about a BJD ticket for Amaresh Jena. We are BJD people. We had been with the party and are still with the party now. We were sidelined.”