Bhubaneswar: Campaigning for the Phase IV Odisha Election for Lok Sabha and Assembly seats will come to an end today.
Six Lok Sabha constituencies such as Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapra, Mayurbhanj and Jagatsinghpur will go to the polls along with the 42 Assembly segments in their jurisdiction on June 1.
With two days left for the polls, leaders of the three major political parties Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) are busy holding rallies and roadshows to woo the voters in favour of their party candidates as campaigning for the fourth phase of elections going to end today.
In most constituencies in Odisha, the contests are triangular with the BJD, BJP and Congress nominees crossing swords for a coveted seat in the state Assembly or the Parliament.
The high-pitch electioneering will end today at 5 pm for which heavy-weight leaders like BJP’s state president Manmohan Samal, BJD’s Prafulla Samal and former PCC president Niranjan Pattnaik, Pratap Deb, Pramilla Mallick, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Pritiranjan Ghadai are leaving no stone unturned to attract voters in large numbers. They are making last-minute efforts.
With just a few hours left for campaigning, prominent leaders of political parties are undertaking whirlwind tours of the constituencies. On the last day of campaigning, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will address the public in Balasore to woo voters.
Balasore parliamentary constituency is all set to witness a three-way electoral battle between the BJP, Congress and BJD as the final seventh phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls is going to be held on Saturday.
Pratap Sarangi, former union minister, is the BJP candidate, ex-union minister Shrikant Jena is the Congress candidate, and Lekhashree Samantsinghar is the BJD candidate.
Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha constituency will also witness a triangular contest between BJD, BJP and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
Odisha’s Revenue Minister Sudam Marndi has been fielded by the BJD from the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat. At the same time, his wife Ranjita Marndi will be the ruling party’s nominee from the Bangirposi assembly segment.
Kendrapara, a bastion of former Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik, is a high-profile Assembly constituency in Odisha. Biju Babu had won from Kendrapara thrice in 1977, 1980 and 1984. No doubt, a high-voltage contest is on cards in the Kendrapara Assembly constituency, which has turned into an impregnable bastion of BJD.
This time BJD has fielded former Congress MLA and ex-minister Ganeswar Behera from the Kendrapara Assembly segment. Behera is pitted against Congress’s Sipra Mallick, a former MLA who quit BJD after the former joined the ruling party. The BJP too has fielded Zilla Parishad chairperson Gitanjali Sethi who resigned from BJD.
Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency will witness a tough fight between National Vice President of BJP Baijayant Panda and Ansuman Mohanty, a former MLA and son of veteran politician Late Nalini Mohanty.
