In BJD ‘fortress’ of Kendrapara, BJP banks on rising leader Jay Panda and Modi

Salipur is one of the seven Assembly segments (all held by the BJD) that fall under the Lok Sabha seat, which goes to the polls along with five other constituencies and 42 Assembly seats in the last phase.

Panda, who is now with the BJP, had represented the Kendrapara seat between 2009 and 2019 as a BJD MP. This time he will lock horns with Anshuman Mohanty, former Congress MLA and son of ex-minister Nalini Mohanty. The Congress’s Sidharth Swarup Dash is also in the fray but the battle for Kendrapara seems to be a straight fight between Panda and Mohanty.

BJD bastion

The BJD considers Kendrapara as the karmabhoomi of party patriarch Biju Patnaik, who won the seat thrice – in 1977 (as a candidate of the Bharatiya Lok Dal), 1980 (Janata Party-Secular) and 1984 (Janata Party) – despite the Congress’s political dominance in the state through the 1980s.

After Biju, the seat remained with the Janata Dal, won by veteran leaders like Rabi Ray – who won in 1989, went on to become Lok Sabha Speaker, and retained Kendrapara in 1991 – and Srikant Jena, who won in 1991 and was elevated as Union minister. Jena is now the Congress’s candidate from the Balasore Lok Sabha seat.

While it has become a prestige battle for the BJD, Panda’s political future too is likely to hinge on the outcome in Kendrapara. BJD leaders admit that the BJP has seen a surge, but claim that the challenge to retain the seat in 2019, when actor-turned-politician Anubhav Mohanty had defeated Panda, was much tougher. “We had to prepare a special strategy in 2019 to defeat Panda as there was a perception he would put up a tough fight. However, our strategy worked and we won by a margin of over 1.53 lakh votes,” a BJD leader pointed out.

The BJD’s meticulous planning at the time was seen as having consolidated traditional Congress votes in its favour. The Congress’s vote share, which was 26.18% and 25.12% in 2009 and 2014 respectively, drastically dropped to 9.21% in 2019. In contrast, the BJD’s vote share, which was 38.58% and 35.04% in 2009 and 2014 respectively, shot up to 50.88% in the last polls.

At the same time, Panda is seen as the man behind the BJP‘s rise in the constituency, where its vote share increased to 38.48% in the 2019 polls after hovering in single-digit figures in the previous two elections.

Panda’s persistence

The BJP candidate, who is known to be a good communicator, has been nurturing the constituency despite his 2019 defeat. His interventions to bring back bodies of migrant workers belonging to the district who died abroad, as well as help for native workers based in the Gulf have added to his popularity in the region.

And while the constituency remains plagued with basic issues and unemployment, a section of the voters appreciate Panda’s role in ensuring drinking water for many households in the constituency from his MPLADS funds. “Baijayant babu is known to be a good man and has never been involved in corruption, as alleged by the BJD. He has done good work as an MP. But the BJP has no organisational presence in Kendrapara. Even the seven MLA candidates are weak, barring a couple. Panda will get votes only due to his personal appeal and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi’s popularity,” says Bibhu Prasad Parida, a native of Patamundai.

In a recent public address, Panda presented his “report card” and said he had brought railway lines to the district to ensure industrial growth, and accused the BJD government of stopping the influx of industries. Several senior BJP leaders, including Modi, have campaigned for him.

BJD’s calculations

The BJD is confident of a good show again due to its ground work in the run-up to the polls. In a big blow to the Congress in the area, the BJD recently weaned away two of its former MLAs – Mohanty and Ganeswar Behera. Behara is now the BJD’s candidate for the Kendrapara Assembly segment. It has also added Arabinda Mohapatra, son of Patnaik’s bete noire and BJP leader Bijoy Mohaparta, to its ranks and fielded him from the Patkura Assembly seat, which his father won four times. Bijoy is also known to have a strong base in the Mahakalapada seat.

The BJD has hitherto been apprehensive about getting support of the Muslim community, which numbers around a lakh in the Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat, due to its perceived closeness to the BJP. However, party leaders are confident of getting their support now since BJP leaders began targeting Patnaik and his aide V K Pandian after alliance talks fell through.

Besides, the BJD remains confident of its traditional support base of women and beneficiaries of various welfare schemes, and the sizeable Bengali-speaking electorate in the seat.