The Brajarajnagar Assembly constituency is all set to witness a high-profile fight as all three major parties have fielded their trusted candidates.
While the BJP has fielded its heavyweight leader Suresh Pujari, the BJD has repeated sitting MLA Alaka Mohanty. The Congress has nominated its veteran leader Kishore Patel.
Meanwhile, all three leaders have flexed their muscles to implement their party’s strategy to woo voters towards them.
While both Suresh Pujari and Alaka Mohanty have made power shows by organising rallies in the locality, Kishore Patel is relying on voter outreach by conducting meetings.
“This constituency is riddled with problems. In the coming days, the development of the district is going to be an issue,” said Suresh Pujari.
“Wherever we are going we are getting peoples’ support. This is obviously because of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s clean image and his working style,” said Alaka Mohanty.
Speaking about his preparedness, Kishore Patel said, “There are many issues in the constituency pertaining to farmers, youths and students. The area is devoid of a big hospital. I am confident I will win the election.”
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Brajarajnagar used to be a citadel of Congress. In 2014, for the first time, the BJP captured it with its nominee Radharani Panda.
In the 2019 election, the seat went to BJD after its candidate Kishore Mohanty defeated Radharani in a close fight. A bypoll for the seat was necessitated in 2022 following the death of Kishore Mohanty where the departed leader’s wife Alaka contesting on a BJD ticket emerged victorious.
According to political pundits, BJD is in a tight spot here due to the bad blood between the factions of the late Naba Das and late Kishore Mohanty.
It is said that Naba Das’s daughter and Jharsuguda MLA Deepali Das is interfering in Brajarajnagar’s matters.
“Brajarajnagar has not seen development as it should have been. The constituency is lagging behind in all spheres like education, health and road communication,” said Biranchi Sahu, a local resident.
Senior journalist Santosh Mohapatra said, “A struggle is ongoing to get a sub-division tag for Lakhanpur block. The party who will convince voters is likely to get votes.”
(By Bhagirathi Das )