Will Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJP surpass the mark he made in Cuttack for the BJD

Considered the epicenter of Odisha politics, the Cuttack Parliamentary seat is expected to see a fierce contest between the BJP and BJD in the next elections.

But in the opposing side is seasoned politician Bhartruhari Mahtab, who has given the BJD a clear advantage in each of the six Lok Sabha elections since the regional political party’s founding in 1998. Mahtab is the BJP’s nominee this time around in this esteemed seat.

Mahtab is up against the newcomer Santrupt Misra of the BJD. A rising star in the business sector, Misra joined BJD in February 2024 after retiring early in December 2023 as director of the Aditya Birla Group’s Group HR.

According to BJP insiders, Mahtab’s popularity with voters in all seven Assembly seats might mean that the tide turns this time and he takes the seat from the BJD for the first time. Due to his insightful arguments in Parliament on all significant topics, he is also regarded as a national treasure.

Mahtab has a flawless electoral record while holding the seat. Mahtab has received at least 50% of the vote in each of the previous three Lok Sabha elections, regardless of the BJP or Congress as his opponent. It’s interesting to note that, despite Prakash Mishra of the saffron party receiving nearly four lakh votes, the BJP did not have an easy time winning the seat in the last election. The saffron party is optimistic about a turnabout in the party’s fortunes this election due to Mahtab’s personality, his reach, and the BJP’s better circumstances.

The constituency is still a stronghold of the BJD, nevertheless, since it won six of the seven Assembly seats in the most recent election. Prominent BJD figures like as Debi Prasad Mishra and Ranendra Pratap Swain are the representatives for the Athagarh and Baramba sectors in the LS seat. In addition, Devi Ranjan Tripathy and Souvic Biswal, the sons of prominent BJD leaders Pravat Tripathy and Prabhat Biswal, represent the Banki and Choudwar-Cuttack seats. How much of an impact their presence will have on LS candidates’ votes is yet to be seen. Misra, who is relatively fresh to political politics, has stepped up her campaigning efforts across the LS seat.

Congress used to have a stronghold in Cuttack, but the party has not yet named a candidate for the position. Former representatives of the seat were JB Patnaik and Jayanti Patnaik. But Panchanan Kanungo, the party’s candidate in the 2019 election, received fewer than one lakh votes, or around 9.42 percent of the total, weakening the grand old party’s position in the seat.

However, Mahtab’s success or failure will be the main focus of the election from the Cuttack LS seat. Only on the day of counting will it be revealed whether he is able to break the BJD’s grasp on the seat and win.