Naveen to kick off his poll campaign from Sheragada tomorrow

Berhampur: Odisha Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik is all set to kick off campaign for his own election from home turf Hinjili Assembly constituency in Ganjam district from tomorrow.

Patnaik is seeking re-election from Hinjili for the fourth time in the upcoming election to be held on April 10.

The Chief Minister will start his campaign through a road-show from Sheragada, a block headquarter town. During his day-long campaign, Patnaik will cover almost all panchayat headquarters in two blocks - Sheragada and Hinjili.

Besides the Notified Area Council (NAC) in Hinjili, there are 22 and 21 panchayats in Sheragada and Hinjili blocks respectively.

Patnaik had won the seat by a margin of 26,417 votes over his rival Congress nominee in 2000, the winning margin was increased to 42,642 votes in 2004 and 61,273 votes in 2009.

"We are only concerned about his victory margin this time," said Sheragada panchayat samiti chairperson Babula Choudhury.

"His visit will be a moral boost to party workers and we are sure the victory margin of Patnaik will increase further this time," said Samiara Pradhan, a former Zilla Parishad member.

Congress has pitted Sibaram Patra, a political rookie against Patnaik. The other candidates who are contesting from the seat are Rabi Rath (Samata Kranti Dal), Debananda Mohapatra (BJP) and Rama Krushn Das (Independent).

The BJD supremo will also hold road shows in Berhampur town and Goalpur NAC tomorrow evening with a night halt at Gopalpur to hit the campaign trail in some other places in different segments including Aska, Sanakhemundi, Sorada on Thursday morning.

The ruling BJD is facing the ensuing elections alone for the first time after spurning an alliance with the Left parties like CPI(M) and CPI. The regional party had snapped its alliance with BJP in the 2009 elections.