Odisha: Parties zero in on candidates ahead of bypolls
BHUBANESWAR: With the nomination filing process already on, parties are now busy finalising candidates for the Balasore Sadar and Tirtol assembly bypolls, scheduled for November 3, and the names could be announced in a day or two.
Bijay Shankar Das, son of former MLA Bishnu Charan Das, whose death necessitated the byelection in Titrol, is the front-runner for a BJD ticket while the BJP may field Rajkishore Behera, who has recently dumped the Congress.
Though Behera had unsuccessfully contested the 2009 and 2014 assembly elections for the Congress, he had gained substantial vote share. Though Tirtol is a traditional BJD bastion, the BJP plans to wrest the seat.
With a number of local leaders having deserted the Congress ahead of the bypoll, the party is likely to field Himansu Mallick, a relatively young and new face in the party.
Party sources said Himansu has already started door-to-door campaigning after getting the nod from the leadership.
Senior Congress leader Suresh Routray, who is the party observer for Tirtol, said they are well prepared for the byelection. “We have sent a list of five candidates to the high command for approval. People of Tirtol have made up their mind for a change this time. We are confident the Congress will win the seat,” Routray said.
Senior BJP leader Prithiviraj Harichandan said the BJP candidate has almost been finalized and will be announced soon.
Tough fight is expected in Balasore Sadar that had gone to the BJP in the 2019 assembly elections. As far as candidate selection is concerned, almost all the three parties are facing a problem of plenty.
Balasore Sadar falls under the parliamentary constituency of Union minister Pratap Sarangi but the BJD is doing everything possible to regain the seat from the BJP.
Former legislator Jiban Pradip Dash, who unsuccessfully contested in the 2019 assembly election from Balasore, is a frontrunner for the BJD ticket along with Subasini Jena, wife of former Balasore MP Rabindra Jena. Five-time MLA Arun Dey may also get the nod.
Manas Dutta, son of Madan Mohan Dutta, whose death led to the byelection, is likely to be the BJP candidate while Navjyoti Patnaik, son of state Congress president Niranjan Patnaik, may fight on a Congress ticket.