Expressbuzz, April 13, 2009
RAJ KHARIAR: Planning and Coordination Minister Duryodhan Majhi of BJD is facing a stiff challenge from one of his proteges in the upcoming Assembly elections from the csegment from where he is seeking re-election for the fifth consecutive term.
Though general voters do not have much complaints against him, caste alignments may put him in trouble this time. Hitesh Kumar Bagarti, BJP candidate, is from the ‘milkman community’ which has a deciding number in this constituency.
In earlier elections, Bagarti was instrumental in the victory of Majhi. But the two have now fallen out. Majhi is contesting the polls on development plank and the welfare measures initiating by the Naveen Patnaik government. The improved road condition in this constituency coupled with the Rs 2-a-kg rice scheme will have impact in swaying the voters’ preference towards him.
However, voters of Raj Khariar are somewhat disappointed with him for his inability to complete the hospital building even though he was the minister of state for health for some time. The existing hospital building in the town is in a very dilapidated condition.
But a voter at Tulima, a rural habitation, maintained that he will prefer Majhi to anybody else.
He is very accessible and helps whenever we go to Bhubaneswar for some work, he said. Congress candidate Baisampayan Meher has strong pockets of influence in Sinapali area and is catching up with his BJD and BJP rivals in the constituency.
Even though voters’ preferences are yet to be polarised in this constituency, some of the aspirants for Congress Assembly ticket are disheartened now which may have an impact on Meher’s performance. While some of the aspirants have reluctantly joined Congress campaign, a member of the Khariar royal family Deb Deb Prasad Singhdeo has entered the fray as a Samruddha Odisha candidate. He will certainly have an impact on the voters of villages near the Raj Khariar town and elderly ones. Singhdeo was the Congress candidate last time and lost the election by over 23,000 votes.
The adjacent Nuapara Assembly constituency will witness a four-cornered contest. The segment has been added to the Kalahandi parliamentary constituency after the delimitation exercise.
It is a do or die fight between Rajendra Dholakia of BJD and BJP candidate Basanta Kumar Panda. In this constituency also there is no general discontentment against the BJD candidate.
Dholakia had won from this constituency as an Independent candidate. The BJP nominee had won from the segment in 2000 elections.
Other two candidates who are really in the race include BSP candidate Ghasiram Majhi (junior) and Congress nominee Saroj Kumar Sahu.
Even though Dholakia seems to have edge over his rivals in this constituency, it is very difficult to predict the outcome as there is no committed support base of any candidate.
The situation is somewhat similar in Bhawanipatna constituency where former BJP minister Pradipta Nayak is in fray. Nominees of the other political parties Jayanta Kumar Nayak (BJD) and Dusmanta Naik (Congress) do not have much following among the voters. Nayak seeking re-election for the fourth consecutive term had defeated his nearest Congress rival by over 8500 votes in the last election.
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