Bhubaneswar, Jan 31: As heavy-weight leaders from both the ruling BJD and opposition BJP and Congress are said to be contesting in the forthcoming election in Bhadrak district, the people of his coastal district will see an interesting fight this time.
The state BJP president Manmohan Samal, former Odisha Congress president Niranjan Pattanaik, BJD Youth President and Chandabali MLA Byamokesh Roy, former minister Prafulla Samal, Dhamanagra BJP's young MLA Suryabanshi are likely to contest in different assembly segment of the district.
Veteran Congress leader and former minister Niranjan Patnaik is again interested in contesting the election from the Bhandaripokhari assembly seat. In the 2019 election, he had given a tough fight to Prafulla Samal of BJD. But he lost the election by a slender margin of 8859 votes. No one expected that Niranjan, who stormed into the new seat, would give a tough fight. The result surprised many. Niranjan has started ground works there. As there are no other aspirants in Congress, so, he is the only Congress candidate this time.
On the other hand, Prafulla Samal had made a statement that he would not contest the polls again. It is rumored that his son Prayashakant alias Lulu is ready to fight this time.
Similarly, State BJP president Manmohan Samal is likely to contest the election as BJP candidate from the Chandbali seat. He is likely to fight with the BJD Youth wing presidentand the present MLA Byomkesh Roy.
In Dhamanagar, BJP's young MLA Suryabanshi Suraj is said to be contesting again. There is no doubt that Suryabanshi is the best contender for the BJP ticket. In 2019, his father Bishnu Charan Sethi had won the seat by only 4625 votes and became the deputy leader of the opposition in the state assembly. After his death, his son Suryabansi won the bye-election in 2022 by a margin of 9881 votes. So BJD is likely to have a tough fight with Suryabashi in Dhamanagar seat this time. it is also rumoured that former MLA Rajendra Das, the BJD’s rebel, may be a candidate from any party in the ensuing election.
