Jagatsinghpur: The upcoming Lok Sabha election for the Jagatsinghpur seat is reminiscent of the 2019 battle, with both the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reconfirming their faith – one on their sitting MP Rajshree Mallik and the other on Rajshree Mallik. Its former MP Vibhu Prasad Terai respectively.
BJD declaring Mallik as its candidate for the Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha seat is his second consecutive nomination, while the BJP had earlier declared Tarai as its candidate, having contested against them in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In that election, Mallik won against Terai by a huge margin of about 2 lakh votes, thanks to the BJD’s stronghold on all seven assembly seats, all of which favored the party.
Although the 2019 Lok Sabha election is expected to be as fiercely contested, political analysts believe that this election will be different with a distinct wave in favor of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Add to this the grip of Terai on the constituency, which appears stronger than ever. Amidst the hectic activities changing the political atmosphere in the district, Congress has not yet announced the name of its candidate. Meanwhile, expressing his gratitude to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for his renomination, Mallik reaffirmed his commitment to maintain the confidence reposed in him. He said, “I am confident of winning by a record margin.” I have undertaken various development activities during my tenure as MLA and MP and I am determined to win the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with everyone’s blessings.”
Similarly, Tarai thanked PM Modi and other senior BJP leaders for his re-nomination. He particularly discussed the challenges faced in implementing development projects under the Sagarmala initiative and attributed the hurdles to lack of cooperation from the state government. “I appeal to the voters to elect the most efficient and qualified candidate to represent Jagatsinghpur in the Lok Sabha for the development of the constituency,” Tarai urged.
