By SANTOSH MOHANTY
Electioneering is hotting up in Banarpal block in Angul district which will go to polls in February 16 to elect panchayati raj institution members. Political observers maintained that it might not be a smooth ride either for Deputy Speaker of Odisha Assembly and sitting BJD MLA of Angul Rajanikant Singh or for District Congress president Biplab Jena.
Both Singh and Jena belong to Kulad village under Banarpal block and carry on the legacy of their fathers who were elected as MLAs from Angul assembly constituency from BJD and Congress parties. Singh's father Adwait Prasad Singh was also one of the important ministers in Odisha ruling party's Cabinet.
Banarpal comes under Angul and Chhendipada assembly constituencies having 35 gram panchayats. Of the 35 seats, Angul and Banarpal blocks have 17 and 18 respectively. In addition to this, it also comes Dhenkanal and Sambalpur Parliamentary constituencies. Therefore, this region is politically more sensitive than other areas in Angul district.
Political analysts are of the view that infighting among the BJD leaders and workers in Chhendipada and Angul assembly constituencies is slowly becoming evident which will be detrimental to the prospects of ruling party in Odisha. This infighting has sent a wrong signal to other political camps such as BJP to take advantage in politics converting the ill-will into votes in favour of the party, the analysts said.
BJP leaders from Garh Santry said time has come for their party to capture as many seats as possible in the three tier panchayati raj election in Banarpal block. They said the political equation will be changed drastically as voters are preferring BJP than Congress or BJD. The undercurrent is there and it is quite evident that this time BJP will call shots, they added.
