BHUBANESWAR: Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat, the karmabhoomi of former chief minister Biju Patnaik in the coastal belt of Odisha, has gained national attention with BJP counting on its national vice-president Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda in search of a maiden victory.
BJP heavyweights PM Narendra Modi, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Union minister Smriti Irani all campaigned for Panda, who is in charge of the party’s UP, Assam, and Delhi units.
Two-time chief minister Biju

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father ofcurrent CM Naveen Patnaik, had won Kendrapara in 1977 with Bharatiya Lok Dal, and again in 1980 and 1984 with Janata Party.
BJP has its task cut out in the constituency as it has never won the seat, which continues to be a BJD stronghold. The party, which was founded in Dec,1997, a few months after Biju’s death, has been winning the seat since the 1998 Lok Sabha elections. Besides, BJD won all seven assembly segments in Kendrapra LS constituency — Salipur, Mahanga, Patkura, Kendrapara, Aul, Rajanagar and Mahakalapada — in the 2019 state elections.
Panda, who was with BJD, won the general elections from Kendrapara twice — in 2009 and 2014. Following his suspension in Jan 2018 for alleged anti-party activities, Panda joined BJP and lost the Kendrapara seat to BJD’s actor-turned-politician Anubhav Mohanty in the 2019 general elections. Mohanty, who too is now with BJP, had defeated Panda by more than 1.81 lakh votes.
BJD has fielded Congress turncoat Anshuman Mohanty this time. Ex-Congress MLA Mohanty’s nomination was significant as he is the son of late Nalinikanta Mohanty, who was a protégé of Biju. Nalinikanta had won from Rajnagar assembly segment in Kendrapara seven times from 1977 to 2004 with Janata, Lok Dal, Janata Party, Janata Dal, BJD and Congress.
Though BJD still claims to have a vice-like grip on its traditional fort of Kendrapara, BJP sees an undercurrent in favour of Modi this time, not just in the constituency but across the state.
“Baijayant Panda is very hardworking. I appeal all of you to vote for him so that he wins with a record margin,” Modi said in his address in Kendrapara on Wednesday.
Panda said people across Odisha including Kendrapara have decided to usher in a change this time under the leadership of Modi.
“Odisha has been deprived of development as the BJD govt hijacked the central schemes. Odia Asmita (pride) is now in danger as a Tamil (indirectly hinting at BJD strategist V K Pandian) has captured Naveen babu,” said Panda, who fell out of Naveen’s favour in 2018 after indirectly accusing Pandian, who was then Naveen’s private secretary in the CM’s office, of indulging in political activity and controlling the party affairs.
At a recent election rally in Kendrapara, Naveen and Pandian came down heavily on Panda. Without naming him, Naveen said the former ‘betrayed’ the people of Kendrapara.
“I had made someone the MP from Kendrapara for 10 years. However, he worked only for his own prosperity and the profit of his company without doing anything for people. He betrayed the people of Kendrapara,” Naveen said, a charge denied by Panda.
Amid BJP’s allegations that Kendrapara continues to reel under issues involving distress sale of paddy, defunct river embankments, unavailability of cold storage, bad roads, and rampant irregularities in rural development works, BJD claims Kendrapara underwent transformation.
The party also harps on the proposed establishment of a steel plant by Japan-based Nippon Steel along with ArcelorMittal in Kendrapara. Naveen said AM/NS India, the joint venture, has already announced Rs 1.02 lakh crore investment to establish a 24 million tonne per annum state-of-the-art steel plant with sustainable technologies in Kendrapara.
“People of Kendrapara are with Naveen babu’s development agenda. BJD will continue to retain the seat, thanks to the blessings of people,” BJD candidate Mohanty said.
Despite all odds, Congress candidate Sidharth Swarup Dash is hopeful of giving a checkmate. “I may not match the money power of the BJD and the BJP. But I am confident the people of Kendrapara will give their mandate to the Congress,” Dash said.