JB Patnaik to contest elections

By Prafulla Das

BHUBANESWAR, JAN. 31. With the Congress(I) likely to face a tough challenge from the BJP-BJD combine in the coming elections in Orissa, the president of the State party unit and former Chief Minister, Mr. J.B. Patnaik, has decided to fight the polls.

Mr. Patnaik, however, did not disclose from which seat he would contest the elections. ``I will announce it in a day or two,'' he said.

The former Chief Minister is likely to contest either from the Begunia seat in Khurda district, which he represents in the present Assembly, or from Athagarh in Cuttack district. Both seats are scheduled to go to the polls in the second phase of elections on February 22. The last date for filing of nomination papers for these segments is February 3.

Observers feel that Mr. Patnaik's decision to contest the polls may boost the morale of the party workers in the State as many senior leaders had declined to contest this time and some others had been denied party tickets.

Mr. Patnaik had not contested the 1995 elections, but managed to become the Chief Minister by mobilising support after the polls. He became a member of the Assembly after contesting the by- election from the Begunia seat. Mr. Patnaik, who was made the PCC(I) president recently, had been removed as Chief Minister after the murder of the Australian missionary, Graham Stewart Staines, and his two sons last year.

Apart from the present Chief Minister, Mr. Hemananda Biswal, who is contesting from Laikera in Jharsuguda district, the Congress(I) has three former Chief Ministers, including Mr. Patnaik, all of whom are members of the Assembly. However, the other two - Mr. Giridhar Gamang and Ms. Nandini Satpathy - have declined to contest the coming polls.

Ms. Satpathy was elected from Gondia in Dhenkanal district in 1995, while Mr. Gamang was elected to the Assembly for the first time in a by-election a few months after he took over as Chief Minister in February 1999.

The Congress(I), which was hoping to benefit from the problems of the BJP-BJD combine, is now facing challenges from within. Several senior leaders have raised banners of revolt after being denied tickets. Some of them have even decided to quit and contest as Independents.

Those who have raised their voice against the leadership include the Panchayati Raj Minister, Mr. Raghunath Patnaik, the Finance Minister, Mr. Bhagabat Mohanty, and the PCC(I) general secretary and prominent leader from Berhampur, Mr. Chandra Shekhar Sahu.

Soon after the election dates were announced, the State leaders, with help from the Central leaders in-charge of Orissa, had tried to bring the different groups within the party together. While formally launching their election campaign from Puri recently, all prominent leaders had declared that they had joined hands to fight the BJP-BJD alliance and provide a stable government.

Subsequently, the AICC(I) general-secretary, Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, also expressed regret on behalf of the party for frequently changing Chief Ministers in the past year. He also promised that if the party was voted to power, whoever was chosen Chief Minister would be retained for the full term.

Out of the 147 seats, the Congress(I) will contest 145, leaving one each for the Janata Dal(U) and the Janata Dal(S). The president of Orissa unit of the JD(U), Mr. Narasingha Mishra, is contesting from Loisingha, and the president of the State unit of the JD(U), Mr. Ashok Das, is contesting from Korei.

The party has so far cleared the names of candidates for about 140 seats and the remaining candidates would be announced before February 3.

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