Pipili By-Election Poll Preparedness Reviewed by DGP Abhay

Bureau,Odishabarta

Bhubaneswar: As campaign for the September 30 by-poll in Pipili Assembly segment officially kicked off Monday, all eyes are on BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Naveen’s name figures as the regional party’s star campaigner. However, party officials are as yet unsure of the Chief Minister’s campaign programme in support of the BJD candidate.

“We are not sure whether the party president will physically visit Pipili. Earlier, Naveen had campaigned for the party candidate Rudrapratap Maharathy on virtual mode for the April 17 by-poll, which was later countermanded due to death of then Congress candidate Ajit Mangaraj,” said a senior vice-president of BJD. He said Naveen mostly works from his residence since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. He did not attend two previous sessions of the Assembly physically.

However, Naveen was seen at Kalinga Stadium welcoming the Indian hockey players after their return from Tokyo Olympics. The Chief Minister has, however, undertaken visits outside the State capital recently after significant improvement in the corona situation across Odisha. Among other places, he has visited Kalahandi, Sundargarh, Malkangiri, Puri and Cuttack. He is scheduled to visit Balangir on Wednesday.

“We cannot rule out the possibility of BJD president making a road show in Pipili using his campaign bus. This decision may be taken keeping in view the ground situation in Pipili,” a senior leader said.

Since three Union Ministers – Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Bisweswar Tudu – along with the BJP’s Kissan Morcha national president Vijay Pal Singh Tomar, are scheduled to campaign in Pipili, the BJD may think of using its trump card, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the senior leader said.

Naveen had not physically campaigned in the two previous by-polls held in November last year in Balasore and Tirtol. The by-poll in Pipili has been necessitated following the death of BJD’s sitting MLA Pradeep Maharathy in October 2020. Pipili is traditionally a stronghold of BJD from where Pradeep Maharathy was elected to the Assembly five times in a row since 2000.
However, BJP candidate Ashrit Pattnaik is also seen as a strong contender in the fray. Ashrit had lost the 2019 general elections by 9,787 votes to BJD’s Pradeep Maharathy. Though there are 10 candidates in the fray for the Pipili by-poll, BJD’s Rudrapratap Maharathy, BJP’s Ashrit Pattnaik and Congress’s Bishwokeshan Harichandan are ahead of others in campaigning being conducted adhering to COVID-19 protocol.

Coinciding with the beginning of the campaign in Pipili for by-poll, DGP Abhay on Monday reviewed the poll preparedness with Director Intelligence, Additional DG of Police (Law & Order), IG of Police, Central Range, Cuttack, IG of Police (Law & Order)–cum-Nodal Officer and SP, Puri District through a video conference.

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