In a few hours from now, you will have the Patkura by-election result, held on 20th of this month. Addition of this single seat to any of the parties in the fray is not going to affect the composition of the house anyway. With 112 seats in the 147 –member house, BJD is in an absolute comfortable position to be in the government. BJP’s 23 seats and Congress’ 10 are not just enough to pose any real threat to the BJD government in Odisha with an increase of one number.
Again it is only three months since Odisha is out of one of the fiercest electoral battle in its history. There is developing a conspicuous softness in the relation between BJD and BJP recently after the election outcome. Yet the Patkura by-election turned out to be equally fierce.
In every contest- small or big, win always is the objective. Parties engaged in the contest efforts hard for the win. But when the ego gets involved in the contest, parties are often found crossing limits. This is the case with Patakura.
Naveen Pattnaik is known for his nature of election seriousness, so is BJP. So an intense fight for Patkura was well expected. But it is the Bijay Mohapatra factor for which this by-poll for Patkuara has become more intense. Virtually the entire cabinet of the Naveen government along with dozens of BJD legislatures was seen engaged in Patkura. CM Patnaik himself led the campaign – he gave two days there. BJP, too, had used all his resources there.
In 2000, at the nick of general assembly election that year, Naveen Patnaik dumped Bijay Mohapatra who was the most powerful in BJD then setting the tale of Odisha politics. Since then, Bijay Mohapatra has failed to make it to the assembly and, Naveen set his journey to the unchallenged supremacy in the party. Bijay’s defeat has been standing testimony to that.
Of course, there was time, at the beginning of this year, when political development in Odisha had started to wipe Bijay’s untouchable tag in BJD; his acceptability in Naveen’s set up was shaping up but all collapsed just before the general elections.
Of course, there was time, at the beginning of this year, when political development in Odisha had started to wipe Bijay’s untouchable tag in BJD; talks on his acceptability in Naveen’s fold started doing round but, all perished just before the general elections.
And, Naveen resorts to his undeclared, but an obvious vow of not allowing Bijay to enter into the Odisha assembly.
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