Bhubaneswar, April 8: Sarat Pattanayak, the Odisha Pradesh Congress chief, has chosen to contest from Nuapada assembly segment in Odisha, causing ripples within the local party circles.
After being denied party ticket, Ghasiram Majhi, a tribal leader and former Congress candidate, has decided to contest the upcoming election as an independent candidate from this assembly segment.
Ghashiram Majhi, who was a frontrunner for the Congress ticket, expressed his dissent after being denied the party ticket.
Undeterred, Ghashiram Majhi, the state secretary of the Congress party, has decided to take matters into his own hands and contest as an independent candidate.
District Tribal Welfare Association led by Ghasiram had recently organized a tribal conference at Gudaphula Ground in Nuapada.
Hundreds of local tribal leaders from various tribal communities and workers gathered during this conference. They pledged their support for Majhi and vowed to back his candidature in the upcoming election.
The association claims that there is a tribal population of approximately one lakh in the Nuapada assembly segment who will align with Ghasiram and vote for him.
If Ghasiram contests as an independent and a rebel candidate against the official Congress nominee, Sarat Pattanayak, it could have serious repercussions for the party in Nuapada.
In the 2019 elections, Ghasiram had contested as the Congress candidate from the Nuapada assembly seat and secured 45,317 votes, placed second.
Now, with his decision to contest independently, it poses a significant challenge to Sarat Pattanayak’s campaign.
Ghasiram's decision to contest as an independent candidate adds an intriguing twist to the electoral dynamics in Nuapada. The tribal support he enjoys could potentially impact the outcome of the election.
