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Assembly polls: Ticket aspirants begin lobbying

BHUBANESWAR: The Assembly elections in the State are several months away. But politicians of different hues who were planning to contest the coming polls have already started approaching different political parties for managing a ticket.

Going by the situation, it appears that the ruling Biju Janata Dal remains the most sought after party at present. With main opposition Congress remaining a divided house, BJD is being accorded the priority by tickets seekers.

The process has already started with the formal joining of the former Communist Party of India leader Nityananda Pradhan with the BJD on Saturday.

Mr. Pradhan is reportedly eyeing the ticket for the Aska Lok Sabha seat.

The BJD is attracting the self-seeking politicians or those striving to make a debut in politics primarily because the party had already put itself on poll mode.

Party president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has started touring different regions of the State to address public meetings under the garb of attending foundation stone laying ceremonies for various developmental projects. Congress, on the other hand, was not attracting many a floating politicians because it was suffering from severe infighting with a majority of senior leaders busy trying to ensure the ouster of Pradesh Congress Committee president Jayadev Jena from his post.

Bharatiya Janata Party, the lone partner of BJD in the government, was not drawing many a tickets aspirants as it did not have a leader who could match Patnaik’s stature.

Another factor that was apparently preventing ticket aspirants from approaching BJP was that the Hindutva card its leaders were playing was yet to gain acceptance on a wider scale.

Also the polarisation that took place in the wake of the communal violence in Kandhamal does not seem to be working in favour of the party.

On the other hand, the BJD was getting stronger with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik making all out efforts to keep his self-styled secular image intact.

The BJD was also remaining the first choice in comparison with BJP because it was striving to claim credit for whatever good work the alliance government had done during the past eight-and-a-half years.

Surprisingly, many Congress leaders had also started vying for BJD ticket to fight the next Assembly polls. These leaders would take ticket from their party only if they failed to arrange a BJD ticket.

However, one also finds another section comprising both aspiring and seasoned politicians who want to contest on Congress ticket.

They argue that BJD-BJP alliance would not be voted to power for the third consecutive term as anti-incumbency factor would come into play.

As politics was fast emerging the most sought after career at all levels in the State, many aspiring politicians were also making efforts to join smaller competitors such as the Nationalist Congress Party, Samajwadi Party, Samruddha Odisha and others.

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