Odisha: All Eyes on Battle Royale in Sambalpur Between BJP, BJD Trusted Lieutenants

Among all the major Lok Sabha constituencies in Odisha, its Western Odisha’s cultural citadel, Sambalpur, has suddenly sprung to new political prominence after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had decided to field Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as its Lok Sabha candidate.

Basking in the comfort of advisory electoral politics as an election observer and Rajya Sabha member, Pradhan is back in the fray after a long hiatus of almost one-and-half decades. But, he has to work hard to match the high profile Biju Janata Dal (BJD) organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das, someone known for his proximity to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his close aide V K Pandian.

It is being said that Das these days is doing the extra job of tailoring the campaign designs in the BJD’s war room, leaving the stitching part to Pandian. Which is one reason why many BJD members remain button-holed by the two men.

This time round, what is a different for BJP’s Pradhan and BJD’s Das is that both are outsiders for this region of Odisha. Sambalpur is the epicentre of the divide between Coastal and Western Odisha, where there is still an undercurrent of regional animus -- ‘Cuttackis and non-Cuttackis’.

Both the men in the fray need to do a lot of hard work to dilute this regional schism, keeping composure given the feeling of animus which is as old as Odisha politics.

Pradhan, who has reportedly invested extra time and effort to shed the Central hangover and get down to the ground from the comfort of his party’s war-room, has been able to carve a niche in Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency.

But, in any Lok Sabha election, the Assembly segments play a big role in vote-catching.

However, the BJD seems to have taken a few calculated risks, going by the fielding of certain candidates in the Assembly segments under Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency.

“Veteran BJD leader and former Union Minister Prasanna Acharya is the candidate for the Sambalpur Assembly instead of his pocket burrow Rairakhol, that appears to be a mishmash if seen in hindsight” said Priyaranjan Sahoo, a political analyst based in Sambalpur.

A state minister and Member of Parliament twice, Acharya had his moorings in Rairakhol for long, and suddenly, with his presence required in Sambalpur now, he may have to give in to the intransigence of some local BJD leaders there, for which not much time is left.

This may impact the prospects of BJD’s Lok Sabha candidate, Das. Acharya has been brought in from Rairakhol to make room for another BJD leader, Rohit Pujari, who may never match Acharya’s ‘aura’ to garner votes in Rairakhol Assembly areas.

Das, meanwhile, is left to exercise his political acumen to ward off the odds by piggybacking on Naveen Patnaik’s popularity.

All said and done, “both the candidates badly require enough political humility in their dispositions, given the fact that the people of Sambalpur always exhibit a cast iron mindset toward any one from the Coastal pockets. This may require both Pradhan and Das to fine-tune themselves” said Sahoo.

Pradhan being a poster boy of BJP in Odisha, however, has some advantage, as in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had won from five Lok Sabha seats in Western Odisha.

Coastal Region: Balasore

The other constituency that is in the news is Balasore in coastal Odisha.

There the BJD seems to be on the back-foot because of its choice to field a BJP turncoat, Lekhasree Samantsinghar, who is pitted against BJP heavyweight Pratap Sarangi.

This can be a double whammy for Lekhasree because, till recently, she was in the BJP spewing venom against Naveen Patnaik. Also, Sarangi, former MP and Union Minister, is considered a grass-root leader, known for simplicity and connect with the people in the area.

The other reason challenge for Lekhasree is that Kharvela Swain, once a well-known name in Balasore and BJP loyalist, is reportedly planning to fight as an independent candidate. He might pose some problems for both Lekhashree and, to some extent, for Sarangi.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Odisha.