As expected, Odisha’s ruling BJD on Friday named Dipali Das, daughter of slain minister Naba Kisore Das, as its candidate for the Jharsuguda Assembly bypoll scheduled for May 10. The decision seems to be an attempt to sail through the bypoll by capitalising on the sympathy factor. Dipali (26), a management graduate, was active in politics in the Jharsuguda area and was often seen sharing the stage with her father. She was considered as Naba’s political heir because of her presence in the political circles in and around Jharsuguda. Dipali continued her father’s public-connect exercise by touring across the constituency and assuring the voters that she would carry forward the legacy of her father, who was a popular leader in the industry-rich district. She was also seen attending meetings organised by the local administration to review development activities. The bypoll has been necessitated by the murder of Das, who was gunned down by a police officer while on the way to an official programme at Brajrajnagar on January 29. Das, who won the seat in 2009 and 2014 on a Congress ticket, switched to the BJD in 2019 and retained the seat with an impressive margin of 45,699 votes. A good organiser having a strong influence in the region, Das was then inducted into Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s cabinet. Revenue Minister Pramila Mallik told reporters that the BJD was confident of a victory because of the good work done by Patnaik in the Jharsuguda region as well as the late minister’s popularity. As Opposition parties are likely to make a major poll issue out of Das’s murder and the police’s failure to ascertain the motive behind it, Mallik said it would not affect the BJD’s prospects. The BJP is likely to field its former youth wing leader Tankadhara Tripathy in the bypoll. He has increased his presence in the constituency by joining different programmes. Despite the defeat in the 2019 Assembly polls, the BJP has a strong presence in Jharsuguda. The saffron party’s candidate had secured 52,921 votes in the election. The Congress has formed a five-member committee to suggest its Jharsuguda candidate.
