The three major political parties of Odisha — ruling Biju Janata Dal and Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress — have started preparing for the bypoll in Bijepur Assembly seat under Bargarh Lok Sabha constituency in western Odisha.
Poll panel
Since the Election Commission of India is likely to announce the schedule for the Bijepur bypoll in the near future, the BJD on Wednesday formed a four-member election coordination committee to prepare the party for it.
The four leaders who have been made members of the coordination committee are Niranjan Pujari, Sushant Singh and Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, all from the State’s western region, and Sanjay Das Burma, a former Minister who hails from the coastal district of Puri.
The Bijepur seat had fallen vacant after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik vacated it and retained the Hinjili seat in his home district Ganjam in south Odisha. Mr. Patnaik had won from both the constituencies in the Assembly election held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha poll a few months ago.
On the other hand, the Congress also has formed a team headed by senior legislator Narasingha Mishra to chalk out a strategy for the upcoming bypoll.
BJP’s strong base
The BJP, which has a strong base in the State’s western region, is also hoping to win the Bijepur seat since it was able to bag the Bargarh Lok Sabha seat in the last elections. The BJD, however, won all the seven Assembly seats under the Bargarh Lok Sabha in the constituency.
The BJD is better placed than its rivals also because it had won Bijepur in the bypoll in 2018. Its candidate Rita Sahu, widow of former Congress legislator Subal Sahu, had defeated the BJP candidate by a margin of over 41,000 votes. The bypoll then was necessitated due to the death of her husband.
According to political analysts, the BJD will find it easy in the upcoming bypoll in Bijepur if Ms. Sahu is made the party nominee again.
The appointment of Subash Chauhan as chairman of the Western Odisha Development Council on Wednesday had also indicated that Ms. Sahu was ahead of other aspirants.
Mr. Chauhan, who had finished second as the BJP’s candidate in the Bargarh Lok Sabha seat in 2014, had quit the party and joined the BJD ahead of the last elections. He reportedly quit BJP when he was refused ticket for the Lok Sabha seat and was asked to contest from Bijepur against the Chief Minister.
