Bhubaneswar, Oct. 7: With five days to go, campaigning for the Kandhamal Lok Sabha bypoll scheduled on October 15 has boosted up.

Chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik, who returned from New Delhi on Tuesday, will make a whirlwind tour of Kandhamal for three days from Wednesday to root for his party.

The ruling dal, which has made the by-poll a prestige issue, has already drafted more than a dozen ministers, senior leaders and MLAs.

The dal is leaving no stone unturned to retain the seat, which fell vacant following the death of its MP Hemendra Chandra Singh. The late leader's widow Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh is the BJD candidate who is trying her best to encash the sympathy factor.

The party held a series of meetings in the constituency and staged a rally at Baliguda on Tuesday. BJD poll coordinator Pratap Keshari Deb said: “The campaigning will intensify from tomorrow after Naveen Patnaik arrives here.”

Congress and BJP are not lagging behind in their campaigns. All India Congress Committee general secretary B.K. Hariprasad, his deputy Subhankar Sarkar and an array of senior party leaders addressed the gathering at the campaign meetings at Boudh and Kantamal on Tuesday.

The faction-ridden Congress, which has been demoralised following its drubbings in May elections, tried to put up a united face at the meetings.

Veterans like Srikant Jena, Niranjan Patnaik, Sarat Chandra Patnaik, Kanhu Charan Lenka and Kishore Chandra Patel were seen there.

“We are fighting the by-poll unitedly,” said state Congress chief Jaydev Jena. In fact, infighting in the party was said to be the foremost factor for its debacle in the 2014 polls.

The BJP, which had finished third in the last elections in Kandhamal, is fighting with zeal and zest.

The party has roped in former Kandhamal MP Rudramadhab Ray as its candidate this time.

Its campaign committee chairman Bijoy Mohapatra said: “People want a change this time. They are in a mood to vote for us. People from different communities are extending support to us. Everyday, people from BJD and Congress are joining us.”

The party has divided the parliamentary constituency spread over four districts into zones and has assigned different leaders for these zones.

Apart from the state BJP leader Arun Singh, union ministers Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan, state president KV Singh Deo are among others who are campaigning for the party.

The BJP is banking on the Modi factor and is highlighting the series of scams that has tarnished the image of the ruling BJD.