Bhubaneswar: As the Election Commission declared that the elections to Patkura assembly constituency would be held on May 19, the chances of ruling BJD winning the seat become brighter.
The election commission, instead of countermanding the elections after the demise of BJD candidate Bed Prakash Agarwal, has decided to hold the elections before the close of the process for the general elections. It has asked the ruling BJD to nominate a fresh candidate for the elections.
Sources in BJD said that the party is going to encash the sympathy wave by fileding Bed Prakash Agarwal’s son Sanjay Kumar Agarwal in the fray. In recent past, BJD has reaped high dividend by fielding Rita Sahoo, the widow wife of Congress MLA Subala Sabhu in Bijepur assembly by-elections. Moreover, after the polling in the state over after April 29, the BJD supremo and other leaders would find enough time to concentrate in Patkura constituency.
Veteran politician Bijaya Mohapatra, the bete noire of chief minister Naveen Patnaik is seeking his electoral fate from Patkura in BJP ticket. He, however, would have an uphill task to defeat Sanjya defying the sympathy wave and get into the state assembly. Mohapatra is in political wilderness for last 19 years.
