Sourabha Kumar Parida
Bhubaneswar, May 17: The candidature of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for the first time from Western Odisha will no doubt have an impact on the region.
The fate of Balangir Lok Sabha depends on the voting of Kantabanjhi and Loisingha Assembly constituencies, which will go to polls on May 20.
While BJP reposed its faith on sitting MP Sangeeta Singhdeo, BJD changed its card by fielding Surendra Singh Bhoi, a tribal leader, for Balangir Lok Sabha constituency.
Bhoi, the former senior Congress leader, has strong base in his home turf – Titlagarh and Saintala. He has represented Titlagarh as MLA from 2009-2014 and twice from Saintala, which used to be a constituency till 2009 delimitation.
The Congress has fielded actor-turned-politicial Manoj Mishra.
Last time, BJP candidate Sangeeta Singhdeo had won the seat by a margin of 19516 votes defeating BJD's Kalikesh Narayan Singhdeo. Kantabanjhi played a major role in her victory as she led by 33,700 votes from the Assembly constituency alone.
However, the 2024 scenario is far different from 2019. The BJD was in third position in Kantabanjhi Assembly seat. This time, Naveen's candidature will boost the vote share of party's Lok Sabha candidate, Bhoi.
Last time, Singhdeo had a lead of 12,618 votes from Loisingha, 7,983 from Patnagarh and 1,948 from Titlagarh. This time,Surendra's candidature from BJD may change the Titlagarh equation.
The BJP may witness a tough fight in Birmaharajpur Assembly segment where BJD had a lead of 6644 votes last time. Besides, the BJD had a lead of over 11,000 votes in Sonepur and 12,000 in Balangir Assembly constituencies.
Besides, Congress veteran Narasingha Mishra's son Samarendra Mishra had got 2.70 lakh votes as party's MP candidate. This time, he is contesting Assembly election and the party has fielded novice Manoj Mishra. The Congress vote may split into BJD and BJD votes in many Assembly segments.
Balangir Lok Sabha seat comprises five Assembly seats of Balangir district and two of Subarnapur district.
