LS elections 2024: Kendrapara’s Pandas are engaged in a triangle battle
The next elections are expected to see a three-way contest for the esteemed Lok Sabha seat in Kendrapara.
A fierce contest is expected as BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda, the party’s nominee, attempts to unseat BJD from the Kendrapara Legislative Seat. In the 2019 elections, BJD’s Anubhav Mohanty defeated the previous MP for the seat. This time, he is facing off against Congresswoman Siddhartha Swarup Das and BJD candidate Anshuman Mohanty.
Panda, who exudes confidence in his ability to win the seat, said that the BJP tsunami has swept across both rural and urban regions, with people eager for Narendra Modi to take over as prime minister for a record third time. Odisha will require reform, and Kendrapara will be the starting point. People are resolved to support the candidates of the saffron party, hence the BJP will form the government at both the federal and state levels, he said.
Panda went on to say that there was no train connection in the Kendrapara area. Passenger and freight trains are now operating in the area as a result of the Modi-led administration in Washington. “Even though I lost the last election, I have been working for the welfare of the people of Kendrapara for more than 15 years.” “I am sure that I will win this time,” he said.
Panda served as a member of the BJD Rajya Sabha from 2000 until 2009. He was subsequently elected twice as a BJD candidate from Kendrapara to the Lok Sabha, in 2009 and 2014. He left the BJD in 2018 and joined the BJP. But in the 2019 election, he was defeated by the BJD candidate by a total of 1,81,483 votes.
Mohanty of the BJD also voiced confidence in the governing party’s ability to hold onto the Kendrapara seat. “The area has seen several development projects implemented by the BJD administration. In the next polls, voters will undoubtedly support BJD, he said. Mohanty, a former Rajnagar MLA, left the Congress last month and joined the governing party.
Das, the Congress candidate, said that the party would prevail in Kendrapara this time since the people have not received any benefits from the BJD and BJP regimes in the state or the federal government so far.
