JD wants united oppn candidate against Gamang

BHUBANESWAR, MAY 29: The Orissa unit of the Janata Dal has decided to support a united Opposition candidate to defeat Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang in the by-poll to the Laxmipur Assembly constituency scheduled for June 21.

However, the Dal leadership here is of the view that the proposal to put up a united Opposition candidate should come from other non-Congress parties in the state. If there is no such proposal, the Janata Dal has decided to go it alone. The meeting of Janata Dal and its Left allies is to be held at the Dal headquarters on Saturday to decide the strategy to be adopted for the by-poll. The Dal leadership is of the opinion that non-Congress parties should exploit this opportunity to fight the Congress in a united manner.Senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Bijay Mahapatra has been maintaining that either the Opposition should field a common candidate or boycott the by-poll in protest against the partisan attitude of the Election Commission.