All eyes are on the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation where the Biju Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party are locked in a prestigious battle over the mayoral election.
The election to all urban local bodies will be held next week and the parties have intensified their campaigns. For the first time, the heads of the corporations would be elected through direct elections.
The Bhubaneswar (north), Bhubaneswar (central) and Ekamra–Bhubaneswar Assembly seats lie in the jurisdiction of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, the largest ULB in the State.
Though all the three seats were won by the ruling BJD in the Assembly elections, the Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat was won by BJP’s Aparajita Sarangi — former Commissioner of the BMC who had quit her IAS job just before fighting the 2019 general election.
While the BJD has fielded Sulochana Das, former State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, the BJP has chosen Suniti Mund as its mayoral candidate. Madhusmita Acharya is the Congress candidate in the high–profile battle.
As the people will directly vote for the election of mayor for the first time, it will test the popularity of the BJD. The BJD has been a dominant political force ever since it was founded by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik following the demise of his father the legendary Biju Patnaik. It had never lost the Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat before 2019. Despite winning the majority of the Lok Sabha seats and achieving absolute majority in the Assembly, the loss of Bhubaneswar haunts the regional party.
Moreover, it wants to see Ms. Sarangi, a vocal critic of the Naveen Patnaik government, to lose face on the home turf, said a senior journalist.
Though Ms. Das has been more active in the State politics than her competitors, the ruling party is not taking the election lightly. According to party sources, all three MLAs have been asked to ensure Ms. Das leads in their respective constituencies. The votes polled in favour of the candidate would decide their political career.
Ashok Panda, Science and Technology Minister and MLA of Ekamra Bhubaneswar, Ananta Narayan Jena, MLA of Bhubaneswar (Central) and Sushant Rout, MLA of Bhubaneswar (North) are seen accompanying Ms. Das during her campaign trail.
On the other hand, Ms. Sarangi appeared to have taken it upon herself to ensure that the BJP candidate wins the election. However, her campaign is affected by non–participation of senior party leadership. Ms. Acharya has been doing door–to–door campaign with a handful supporters but senior party leaders are conspicuous by their absence.
As the Bhubaneswar Mayor would be standing by the side of Mr. Patnaik to welcome dignitaries like the President and the Prime Minister at the airport or major platforms, the BJD does not want to lose the election.
