Samikhsya Bureau
Amid an uneasy calm after the hectic phases of polling now fingers remain crossed as people are readying to cast their votes for the final phase. Among all the players the Biju Janaata Dal still remains the favourite by dismissing claims by the rest to topple its apple cart.
The electoral fortune of 388 candidates would be sealed as Odisha goes for a simultaneous poll to the six Lok Sabha and 41 Assembly seats in the fourth and final phase elections tomorrow.
It will be a litmus test for the ruling BJD as the party which had swept the 2014 polls winning 20 Lok Sabha seats leaving only one seat to BJP and 117 of the total 147 Assembly seats, will now have to face a tough challenge from the BJP in the backdrop of a strong Modi wave.
All the six Lok Sabha seats going for poll tomorrow were held by the ruling BJD. The party had also captured 37 of the 41 Assembly seats going for poll tomorrow while the Congress bagged three seats and the BJP one seat.
A total of 52 candidates are vying for the six Lok Sabha seats and the rest 336 candidates for 41 Assembly seats. About 95,14,883 voters spread over 10,792 booths would decide their fate.
The six Lok Sabhas going for the poll are Mayurbhnaj(ST), Balasore, Bhadrak(SC), Jajpur(SC), Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur(SC). Along with these six Lok Sabha, polling will be also held in 41 Assembly seats while election to Patkura assembly seat will be held on May 19 instead of tomorrow following the demise of BJD candidate Bed Prakash Agarwal.
All eyes are on the high profile Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat, considered as the work place of late Biju Patnaik, a legendary leader in Odisha where former BJD MP Baijanta Panda is seeking election as BJP candidate and pitted against actor turned politician and BJD Rajya Sabha MP Anubhav Mohanty.
The Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat has become a prestige issue for both the ruling BJD and the BJP as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has concentrated all his efforts to ensure the defeat of Baijanta Panda who in turn had also left no stone unturned to give Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik a befitting reply to his high voltage campaign.
Prominent candidates in the fray for Lok Sabha are Baijant Panda(Kendrapara), Pratap Sharangi ( Balasore) , both from the BJP and BJD candidates Rabindra Kumar Jena( Balasore) and Anubhav Mohanty ( Kendrpara).
The fate of four councils of ministers of Naveen Patnaik government including Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera, and over a dozen former ministers including Pradesh Congress Chief Niranjan Patnaik would be sealed in tomorrow’s ballots.
Almost all the six Lok Sabha seats and 41 Assembly seats will be witnessing a multi corner contest but the real battle for ballots would be mostly confined to ruling BJD, the BJP and the Congress.
The ruling BJD which had won all the six Lok Sabha seats in 2014 election would face a tough fight this time from the BJP candidates in the wake of a strong Modi wave sweeping the state to retain all the six seats.
Electioneering in the fourth phase witnessed a high voltage campaign by the ruling BJD led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and BJP spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and a host of union ministers.
The Congress campaign picked up little momentum at the fag end of the electioneering with the arrival of party President Rahul Gandhi, senior party leader Gulam Nabi Azad and actor turned politician Raj Babbar addressing election rallies in support of party candidates.
Prime minister Narendra Modi and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik were the star campaigner for the BJP and the BJD respectively and both did not mind to attack each other’s capability in winning the elections.
While Mr. Modi said the elections in Odisha is a clear indication that the exit of Mr.Patnaik is certain and the BJP will form the government, the BJD supremo claimed that his party had already garnered the required seats in the last three-phase elections to form the government in the state for the fifth time in a row and invite Mr.Modi to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
The ruling BJD’s centred around on central negligence and the unfulfilled promises made by Mr Modi during the 2014 elections.
The BJP raked up the mining scam and chit fund scam accusing the Chief Minister of shielding the accused and called for a change of government promising an all-round development of the state.
On the other hand, the Congress is optimistic that party’s recent victory in Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh and Madhya Pradesh will have a big impact on the Odisha voters upsetting the poll prospect of both the ruling BJD and the BJP in the election.
