An overview of Jajpur city. Telegraph picture

A traditional bastion of the BJD, the district is witnessing a battle for supremacy between two party veterans — Kalpataru Das and Prafulla Chandra Ghadei.

Das, the outgoing panchayati raj minister and BJD vice-president, enjoys a considerable clout in the ruling party and has played a key role in distribution of party tickets. Considered close to party chief Naveen Patnaik, he was sent to the Rajya Sabha on the eve of the general election. Elected to the Assembly from Dharmasala for four consecutive terms, Das has also paved way for his son Pranab Balbantaray.

Ghadei has been in politics since 1967 and has been elected to the Assembly from Sukinda for five terms since 1990. He was the finance minister in the Naveen Patnaik government and was controlling the district till he fell from his boss’s grace following the unsuccessful coup attempt by Pyari Mohan Mohapatra in May 29, 2012. Ghadei was not only dropped from the ministry, he was also denied a party ticket this time.

His son Pritiranjan, an MLA, has been shifted to the Sukinda constituency. Ghadei, who has a considerable clout in the mineral-rich belt, is now confined to Sukinda to retain the turf for his son.

The tussle for supremacy between the two veterans has been reflected in the electoral politics of the district. “We are witnessing the ugly face of infighting within the party,” said a party worker.

The district politics has become murkier with outgoing BJD MP Mohan Jena being denied re-nomination. Jena accused Das of playing mischief by influencing the leadership. “It was Das at whose behest I was denied party ticket,” Jena had told the media.

In an open letter to the voters of the district, Jena has urged the electorate to teach a befitting lesson to the “conspirators”.

“Time will give appropriate reply to the injustice meted out to me,” the letter reads.

Das, however, denied the charge. “The ticket was given by the leadership on the basis of the reports of the party observer and views of local representatives,” he said.

The party has picked up Rita Tarai, a zilla parishad member, in Jena’s place. But, the party workers did not accept her and she was facing opposition from within.

“We wanted an educated person to represent our constituency. Jena is a post-graduate. Tarai has completed Plus Two. Besides, we had never heard of her, forget seeing her,” said Debi Kalyan Mohapatra, an MBA graduate.

Tarai, 37, also faces a tough contest from Ashok Das of the Congress and Amiya Mallick of the BJP. Das, son of former minister and veteran leader Santanu Kumar Das, had contested the 2004 elections from the Binjharpur Assembly constituency, but was defeated by BJD’s Pramila Mallick. Das banks upon the traditional Congress vote bank.

“I will also get the advantage of the infighting within the ruling party,” Das said.

BJP candidate Mallick, a former panchayat samiti chairman from Dasrathpur block, had contested as the Lok Sabha candidate of the Congress in the 2004 and 2009 elections. “This time, I will win as people want Narendra Modi as the next prime minister,” he said.

With reports of the two leaders’ squabble affecting party prospects, Naveen has visited district twice last week.

The leadership is trying to ensure that the two leaders worked together for the party.

The BJD had won all the seven Assembly seats in the Lok Sabha constituency. Amar Satpathy had won Badchana seat in 2009 as NCP nominee (the party then had an alliance with BJD). He faces challenge from rebels, who were aspirants for the BJD ticket, and from Congress candidate Janmejaya Lenka.

Pramila Mallick, who was dropped from the Naveen Patnaik government following the dal scam is seeking re-election from Binjharpur. While Debasis Nayak is from Bari and Pranab Prakash Das from Jajpur, actor-turned-politician Akash Das Nayak has been fielded from Korei in place of Pritiranjan Ghadei, who has been shifted to Sukinda.

• Jajpur votes on April 17