Grand Road in front of the Puri Jagannath temple. Picture by Sarat Patra

Property rights became a major issue in this politically volatile constituency, which is going to polls tomorrow.

Residents have been fighting for their property rights after the Jagannath temple and the district administration issued notice to them to vacate the land or settle it in their favour after paying requisite premium.

While the residents claim that they have been residing on the land they had purchased from mutts several decades ago, the temple administration claims that the land belongs to Lord Jagannath.

The Bhusampati Suraksha Parishad has been fighting over the issue, following which a committee was constituted in 2006 consisting of the law secretary, chief administrator of the temple and the administrator (development) for consideration of the settlement of endowment land in favour of occupants for homestead purposes on humanitarian ground. It was decided to settle the land in favour of the occupants, if they possess one fifth of an acre, provided they pay Rs 1 lakh per acre. If they possess, more than one fifth of an acre, they are required to pay at the market rate fixed by the administration.

A resident said they had agreed to pay the premium, but their land should be settled under a uniform policy.

They seem to be unhappy with sitting MLA Maheswar Mohanty, who happens to be the law minister. “He has not taken any visible step to protect our property rights,” said a voter requesting anonymity.

“We cannot leave our land. We will vote for him, who assures us that right,” said local resident Aditya Hrudaya Mishra.

Residents in some areas, including Talabania and Sarvoday Nagar, are also upset over the property rights. They claim that they have purchased the land from various government agencies. But, the revenue department opposes the land transfer as the area falls under the “sweet water zone”.

The constituency had also witnessed another controversy over the government’s land acquisition for Vedanta Group for its proposed university near Puri. The issue, which had generated much heat, is now pending in court.

People also felt that the promised development of Puri town had not materialised. The pilgrim town still submerges under rainwater every monsoon.

Mohanty, who has been winning the Assembly seat since 1995 in a row, faced a tough competition from his Congress rival Uma Ballav Rath, who had led the movement against land acquisition for Vedanta University.

Former MLA Rath had been runner-up since 1995 contesting as an Independent, Congress and BJP candidate before rejoining the Congress recently.

Mohanty also faced formidable challenge from BJD rebel and former municipality chairman Surendranath Dash, who contested on Samata Kranti Dal ticket. Incidentally, Samata Kranti Dal chief Braja Kishore Tripathy is a former MP and MLA from Puri.

Law and order are other poll issues this time. In the past few years, the town has witnessed several instances of high-profile crimes, the latest one being fatal attack on Mohanty two months ago.

Despite the attack, the 58 year-old minister managed to campaign from home through videoconferencing and his trusted lieutenants. “He was addressing people from home. Besides, we were going door to door seeking vote for him,” said Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra, who was overseeing Mohanty’s campaign.

Rath is also hopeful that he will win over his opponent in the fifth attempt. “I have been with the people of Puri in all these years, and I am sure that this time luck will favour me,” said Rath, a prominent youth leader.

Pipili, one of the most politically vulnerable Assembly segments under the Puri Lok Sabha seat that has been witnessing violence during every election, however, has not seen any such untoward incident this time.

Former agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy, who had to step down from the Naveen Patnaik government following the Bebina gang rape incident in December 2011, faces contest from his traditional Congress rival Judhisthir Samantray.

Maharathy has been winning since 1985 till date except in 1995 when Samantray defeated him. Rivalry between Maharathy and Samantray has been going on since 1995 along with violence. This time, Independent contestant Ashrit Pattnaik, who is said to be a Congress rebel, is likely to be a decisive factor.

A local resident said they had been fed off with violence and hopes that peace would prevail even after the polls. “Our political leaders indulge in violence that injures and kills people. I hope that this time they will address our perennial issues such as frequent power cut. We have been affected by power cut that continues for over 10 hours sometimes,” said Sitakant Mohapatra, a trader.

Similarly, the business community of Pipili, especially the appliqué sellers, said that after the bypass road was made operational, their business had been severely affected.

“We have complained to the local political leaders and the government officials to make some arrangements, but to no avail. Our business has gone down by almost 80 per cent. This has also become a poll issue this time,” said Sadhu Agrawal, a trader.

While Maharathy banks on the Naveen Patnaik government’s populist measures, Congress and other candidates see problems galore here and take up the issues.

Adjacent Satyabadi Assembly segment witnessed a fierce battle between sitting Congress MLA Prasad Harichandan and his BJD rival Ramaranjan Baliarsingh. Harichandan is hopeful of taking advantage of the BJD infighting. BJD rebel and last-time party nominee Umakant Samantray has posed threat to Baliarsingh. Harichandan had won the seat in 1995, 2000 and 2009, while Baliarsingh had been victorious in 2004 as an Independent.

Another Assembly segment, Brahmagiri, also saw a close fight between BJD deputy chief whip Sanjay Dasburma and Congress stalwart Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra. Dasburma won the seat by a slender margin in the last election. Mohapatra, who had been winning the seat since 1995 and lost it to Dasburma in 2009, is hopeful of victory this time.

However, the parliamentary constituency of Puri sees a triangular fight between sitting MP and lawyer Pinaki Mishra, former police officer and BJP nominee Ashok Sahu and Congress’s Sucharita Mohanty, a journalist and daughter of former party stalwart Brajamohan Mohanty.