Keonjhar/Phulbani: The campaign for NAC polls in Champua in Keonjhar district and Baliguda in Kandhamal district ended here in the evening on Sunday.
Polling would be held on January 19 while counting of votes and announcement of results would be on January 21.
For the 13 wards of Baliguda NAC, senior BJD leaders and ministers Pradip Amat, Bikram Keshari Arukh, Pushpendra Singhdeo and Pradip Panigrahi and five party MLAs campaigned for their candidates, while for the Congress, Mohammad Moquim, Bapi Sarkhel and Ramesh Jena also campaigned for their candidates. Besides, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Prasad Harichandan had a door-to-door campaign on Saturday.
Besides, BJP leaders including former minister Surama Padhi and Sukant Panigrahi also had a door-to-door campaign for their candidates.
“We have received overwhelming support from the people from all the wards. I hope that the people of Baliguda would exercise their franchise in favour of our candidates in all the wards,” Arukh said.
BJP leader Surama Padhi also hoped that her party would win the Baliguda NAC polls. “In all the 13 wards, the party has given its candidates who have the overwhelming support from the people,” she said.
On the other hand, the OPCC president said his party has come to the people here as a servitor for their service.
Pointing at the BJD, Harichandan said “They are the rulers and we are the servitors.”
For Champua NAC polls, there is a rat race among all the parties. However, it would be an acid test for the ruling BJD to win the polls considering the recent ouster of Keonjhar Municipality chairperson Meena Majhi who had lost her post in a trust vote. In a desperate bid, top BJD leaders and popular Ollywood star campaigners are trying their best to ensure victory of their candidates in all the 13 wards.
For the BJP, former MP Rudra Narayan Pani and star campaigner Pinky Pradhan had a hectic campaign for their candidates while the Congress had led the campaign through its local leaders.
The Baliguda and Champua NACs have 12,764 and 9,508 voters respectively.