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‘Battle of bulls’ in Mahakalpara

The fight in Mahakalpara is a matter of prestige for Naveen who has toured the constituency at least thrice in less than a fortnight.

“Two bulls are fighting. The one with justice on its side will win,” said Maheswar Nayak, a villager of Mahakalpara assembly constituency, referring to former minister and senior BJP leader Bijoy Mahapatra and chief minister and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik.

As senior BJP leader Bijoy Mahapatra went inside the temple of a local deity seeking blessings, Nayak was sure on whose sides the Gods are. “He has been denied his due for last 14 years. This time the gods want Bijoy bhai to win the polls,” predicted Nayak.

In coastal Mahakalpara assembly constituency of Kendrapara district that goes to polls on April 17, the real battle is not between BJP candidate Mahapatra and BJD’s Atanu Sabyasachi, former energy minister. It is between Mahapatra and Naveen, who is prepared to live with a reduced majority in the 147-member Assembly, but not with Bijoy in the Assembly.

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Naveen, who is yet to forgive Mahapatra for the humiliation during the formation of BJD in 1997, took his first revenge in 2000 when he got him kicked out of the party. Mahapatra had filed his nomination from neighbouring Patkura assembly constituency as BJD candidate, but Naveen, then party president, named Atanu Sabyasachi as party candidate minutes before nominations closed.

It was a blow from which Bijoy is yet to recover even as he tried unsuccessfully to contest twice from Patkura, first in 2004 and 2009. This time he switched to Mahakalpara as BJP candidate where he is once again up against Atanu Sabyasachi, the sitting BJD MLA.

Festive offer

“If there is any opposition leader the chief minister is scared of it is Bijoy bhai,” said Biswa Ranjan Das, a youth in Giranga village. Mahapatra is confident, but cautious. As he is driven around the village in an open Ford jeep, he said, “I hope to win if the ruling party does not employ its machinery to browbeat people and distribute cash the night before elections.”

The fight in Mahakalpara is a matter of prestige for Naveen who has toured the constituency at least thrice in less than a fortnight. “Some of the leaders who deceived my father in 1995 are contesting this time. I know the people will punish them,” said Naveen at one of his meetings without mentioning Mahapatra. On Sunday last, Naveen got BJD’s Bengali speaking leader Arabinda Dhali to woo the 29,000-strong Bengali voters under Ramnagar panchayat.

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“We are indebted to BJD. It gave us good road, Rs 1 a kg rice. Why should I not vote for BJD?” asked Lalita Karmakar, a Bengali-speaking carpenter in Ramnagar. “We all need a record of rights over the land on which we are staying. I am sure Naveen babu would grant us that,” she said.

For Mahapatra also, the contest is crucial. A loss, according to party sources, will mean an end to his political career. In a last ditch attempt, BJP got actress Mahima Chaudhary to Mahakalpara on Tuesday.

But what might work against BJD is the unpopularity and unkept promises of its sitting MLA.

“After winning in 2009, he became a babu. If we had any problems, he would ask us to see him at his Bhubaneswar residence,” said a resident.

First uploaded on: 17-04-2014 at 00:36 IST
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