Congress votes will matter in Aparajita-Manmath fight in Odisha
Bhubaneswar: A lot has changed in the Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency since the 2019 elections when BJP’s Aparajita Sarangi gave a surprise defeat to BJD’s Arup Mohan Patnaik, a former Mumbai police commissioner. This time, Aparajita is facing off against BJD’s Manmath Routray and Congress’s Yasir Nawaz and the fight for the coveted seat is more intense than ever.
It is believed that one of the main reasons for Aparajita’s victory in 2019 was the division of Congress votes between her and the BJD candidate. Moreover, a secret understanding between some BJD leaders and Aparajitha had also reportedly helped the BJP snatch the seat from the clutches of BJD.
However, this time, BJD has played its cards skillfully by inducting Manmath, son of veteran Congress leader and Jatni MLA Suresh Kumar Routray. With the senior Routray openly campaigning for his son, the BJD candidate, even after his expulsion from the Congress, the fight has become tough for Aparajitha, the sitting MP in the constituency.
Routray senior is a well-known face in the Lok Sabha constituency with some pocket votes. Apart from this, he has a strong base in Jatni assembly constituency, from where he has won six times. While Routray is roaming around the Lok Sabha constituency seeking votes for his son, the deciding factor in the constituency will be the division of Congress votes. The question now is whether Routray will be able to transfer votes to BJD or will the presence of the Congress candidate spoil the regional party’s calculations.
The Congress’ move to field young face Nawaz, president of the Odisha unit of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), is an attempt to prevent division of votes in the party. The Congress had not fielded any candidate in the 2019 elections and had allotted the seat to the CPM, whose candidate Janardan Pati could garner only two percent vote share. The party had secured around 17 per cent of the votes in 2014 and despite the fact that BJD had gained votes in the absence of its candidate in 2019, it still has a committed base.
Nevertheless, Bhubaneswar is considered a BJD stronghold and the party won six of the seven assembly constituencies under it in 2019. Another factor that the BJD will have to take into account is the strong discontent among local leaders of the regional party after the surprise announcement. Manmath was made a candidate just hours after joining the party.
Till the last day of candidate announcement, the party had promoted senior leader Shrimayi Mishra as the Lok Sabha candidate. Many party leaders including Minister Ashok Panda had also declared Srimayi as their candidate. She had been working in the constituency for more than a year. Apart from this, many senior corporators of the party are unhappy with the selection of assembly candidates in three constituencies of Bhubaneswar. BJD will have to neutralize all such negative factors to ensure victory.
A big factor that could go in Aparajita’s favor is his connect with the voters. Apart from this, he will also get the support of some strong assembly candidates like former MLA Priyadarshi Mishra from Bhubaneswar-North, Babu Singh from Ekamara-Bhubaneswar and Jagannath Pradhan from Bhubaneswar-Central.
