Bhubaneswar: political history
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The politics of the Lok Sabha constituency
As in 2024
Riyan Ramanath, May 24, 2024: The Times of India
From: Riyan Ramanath, May 24, 2024: The Times of India
Bhubaneswar : Known as the city of temples, Bhubaneswar has a diverse voter profile and a sharp urban-rural divide but development, rather lack of it, has been the main plank ahead of Saturday’s polling.
Incumbent Aparajita Sarangi — a former bureaucrat — of BJP is involved in a fierce fight with pilot-turned-politician Manmath Routray of BJD whose family has a Congress background. Twelve candidates, including Congress’s Syed Yashir Nawaz, are in the fray.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president J P Nadda have both held roadshows in Lord Lingaraj’s abode and chief minister Naveen Patnaik has also organised public meetings. Development has been the main election topic. BJD has been highlighting the initiative it took to bring the fully state govt-funded Metro rail to the city for which preliminary work has started and questioning Aparajita’s failure to attract any big projects or investment to the capital region.
Patnaik has accused her of trying to stall Puri heritage corridor and Ekmara plan meant to improve the amenities of Lord Lingaraj temple while his trusted aide and star campaigner V K Pandian questioned Aparajita’s contribution to Bhubaneswar. Pandian said, as an MP, the 54-year-old could have tried bringing big projects and built a ring road around Bhubaneswar.
“The Bhubaneswar MP goes to the temple and installs a water cooler. MPs, especially those in the capital, have a special role to play. Instead of increasing Bhubaneswar’s growth potential, she is stuck with small tasks,” Pandian said.
Bhubaneswar has a track record of low polling — in 2019, its 59.05% was the lowest among the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha against the state average of 72.99%. The turnout in the city’s 536 slums, which has 3 lakh voters, remains generally high, a reason why all contestants go the extra mile to woo them. The constituency has 16.68 lakh voters in total.
Aparajita, who broke BJD’s five-poll winning streak in 2019, is leaving no stone unturned. She was spotted helping a slum dweller apply cow dung on her hut’s floor and doing Yoga and jogging in city parks to draw the attention of the middle class. Aparajita had worked as Bhubaneswar municipal commissioner, something she has been highlighting. She is confident of the positive response she has received from all sections of people and has released a report card to showcase her work.
“People have been immensely supportive of the BJP. They’re appreciating the work I’ve done. I had released my report card which speaks for itself. Can BJD, which had its MP several terms earlier, present their report card. I feel proud to get a positive response from all sections of society,” Aparajita said. BJD is focusing on the middle class, whose indifference is reflected in the polling percentage.
“BJD is the only party which has thought about the middle class: From subsidised education loans and home loans to expansion of Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana and scholarships for their children,” Pandian said during a rally at Khurda in Bhubaneswar constituency. Bringing them to booths in large numbers may make a difference.
BJD has also been highlighting its work to improve amenities of Lingaraj temple under a Rs 800-crore Ekamra Kshetra Amenities and Monuments Revival Action (EKAMRA) plan. The party has accused BJP of trying to stall it, an allegation denied by the latter.
Manmath, whose father Suresh Routray is a Congress MLA in the outgoing assembly, has been trying to add his father’s vote base to BJD.
Exchange of jibes between Pandian and Aparajita, both exbureaucrats, has added spice to the fight. BJP has fielded two BJD turncoats, former MLA Priyadarshi Mishra from Bhubaneswar North and outgoing BJD MLA Prasanta Jagadev from Khurda assembly seats, and aspires to benefit from their vote base.
