Bhubaneswar, Sept. 22: The BJP today formally announced former BJD MP Rudramadhab Ray as its candidate for the bypoll to the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat, scheduled on October 15.
The BJD and the Congress are yet to announce their candidates.
Ray joined the BJP yesterday, and his candidature was almost certain. Announcement by the central leadership was a mere formality.
Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram today said the central election committee had finalised Ray’s name. Yesterday, the pradesh election committee sent the names of Ray and former party candidates Ashok Sahu and Sukant Panigrahi.
Ray was elected from the Kandhamal seat in 2009 on a BJD ticket by securing more than 3.15 lakh votes. He was denied a party ticket in 2014 and BJD president Naveen Patnaik had picked up Hemendra Chandra Singh, a scion of Nayagarh royal family, for the seat. Singh, a Congress leader of Nayagarh district, had joined the BJD on the eve of 2014 elections. Subsequently, Ray was suspended from the party for having worked against the party candidate.
The BJP today geared up its preparations. The party’s newly appointed chairman of campaign committee Bijoy Mohapatra said the party would fight the poll aggressively.
“The parliamentary constituency has been divided into 32 zones. Senior party leaders will be entrusted with each zone,” said Mohapatra, who is considered as a seasoned poll manager.
Mohapatra said the party would make its best efforts to encash on the popular mood for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The party state executive, which met yesterday to chalk out poll strategies, decided to highlight achievements of the Modi government at the Centre and failures and misdeeds of the Naveen Patnaik government. “These two will be major electoral plank of our party,” said spokesman Suresh Pujari.
The BJD has decided to exploit the sympathy wave following untimely death of its MP Hemendra Chandra Singh, who died on September 4. The party has almost decided to field the leader’s wife Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh. Announcement of her name remains as a mere formality.
On the other hand, the Congress remains undecided on its candidate. Pradesh Congress Committee president Jaydev Jena has gone to Delhi to discuss the matter with the party high command. Jena today handed over a list of four probable candidates to AICC general secretary in charge B.K. Hariprasad. Names of former MPs Pradip Majhi and Bhakta Das, party candidate in 2014 election Harihar Karan and former Phulbani MLA Abhimanyu Behera figured in the list. Karan has expressed his disinterest to contest the poll this time.
September 26 is the last date for the filing of nomination papers for the bypoll.
