The Hindu : BJD, Cong. vie for Nayagarh seat

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Monday, Jul 01, 2002

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BJD, Cong. vie for Nayagarh seat

By Our Staff Reporter

BHUBANESWAR JUNE 30. Campaigning for the byelection in Orissa's Nayagarh Assembly constituency came to a close today. The seat is going to the polls on Tuesday with three candidates in the fray.

The stakes are very high for the main contenders for the seat — the ruling Biju Janata Dal and the Opposition Congress. The bypoll was necessitated following the recent death of the State School and Mass Education Minister, Bhagabat Behera.

Although complacency had developed in the BJD camp following the party's victory in the bypoll held in the Bhadrak Assembly segment on May 31, the Chief Minister and party president, Naveen Patnaik, toured Nayagarh for four days addressing a series of meetings seeking votes in favours of his party nominee, Mandakini Behera, widow of Bhagabat Behera.

The Congress, which has fielded the former MLA, Sitakant Mishra, as its candidate, was also not lagging behind so far as electioneering was concerned. The State unit president of the party, Sarat Patnaik, and senior leaders of the State extensively campaigned in the constituency to woo the voters.

But the Congress camp is apprehensive because they had lost in the bypolls held in Rairakhol last year and in the Bhadrak constituency in May, finishing second at both places.

Congress leaders also fear that the lack of unity among the party workers in the constituency may prove detrimental for the party. The BJD leaders, though confident of victory in the coming polls, are also not hopeful of winning the seat with a big margin. This is because there was opposition from within the party for fielding Ms. Behera as the party candidate. But the top BJD leaders decided in favour of Ms. Behera thinking that she may get sympathy vote.

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BJD, Cong. vie for Nayagarh seat