Bhubaneswar, March 30 (IANS) Biju Janata Dal chief and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seems to have played a political gamble by denying ticket to about one-third party legislators and half a dozen members of the outgoing Lok Sabha.
Some of those who faced the axe became rebel candidates, while many others are behind-the-scene troublemakers.
The party managed to persuade some of the rebels from contesting, but their troubles seem to be far from over in as many as 40 assembly seats.
Party vice president Surya Narayan Patro said the rebel candidates will not have any adverse impact on the prospect of his party as winability was one of the major factors taken into consideration while finalising the ticket.
"People will vote for Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. People are happy with him. The BJD will retain power for the fourth straight term," Patro told IANS.
The elections to the state's 147-member state assembly and 21 Lok Sabha seats would be held simultaneously in two phases April 10 and 17. The BJD won 103 assembly and 14 Lok Sabha seats in 2009.
Patro said this time the BJD could win as many as 125 assembly seats and more than 14 Lok Sabha seats.
But an analyst feels it may not be that easy.
Rabi Das, who has been keenly watching the state's political development for more than four decades, does not see the ruling party benefiting much from this gamble.
"They may retain power, but I think they would lose substantial number of assembly seats and also Lok Sabha seats because of internal dissension," he said.
"Patnaik had also made similar experiments in the past. Dissidence was not visible In the past, but this time one can see it," he said.
Many others who are familiar with 67-year-old Patnaik's style of work said the chief minister has been a risk-taker ever since he entered politics after the death of his father Biju Patnaik in 1997 and his gambles always paid off.
The senior leaders who faced Patnaik's axe this time include former ministers Prafulla Ghadai, Raghunath Mohanty, Anjali Behera, and Duryodhan Majhi.
Behera and Majhi are among those who have been contesting as independents against party candidates, while Mohanty and Ghadai preferred to stay away.
BJD leaders are also contesting as independents in constituencies like Keonjhar, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam and Dhenkanal districts, creating trouble for the official nominees.
The Naveen Nivas, official residence of the chief minister, witnessed regular protests past weeks by disgruntled leaders and workers, a scene never seen before.
"He should have played safe in this election especially when there is an absence of a strong wave in his favour. Besides Patnaik may not gain as a large number of seats are also set to witness multi-corner contests in view of the emergence of new new political parties," Das said.
If Patnaik is voted for the fourth term, he will have the distinction of becoming the longest serving chief minister of any state in the country after Jyoti Basu, who served for 23 years as chief minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000.
People will Hit the Streets: Trinamool on Summons to Mukul Roy
Kolkata, Jan 12 (IANS) Angry at the CBI for summoning its leader Mukul Roy in connection with the Saradha scam probe, the Trinamool Congress Monday said people would hit the streets and there
Rohit Sharma: Rohit stopped fans from chanting 'Mumbai cha Raja Rohit Sharma', the video went viral
Indian ODI team captain Rohit Sharma is spending time with his family these days after retiring from the T20 International and Test formats. Rohit, who won two ICC titles for India under his
BJP got 6 times more donations than Congress: BJP got Rs 614 crore in 2021-22, and Congress only Rs 95 crore
According to the latest figures of the Election Commission, during 2021-22, the BJP government in power at the Center received donations of Rs 614.53 crore, which is 6 times more than the donations
Mr.Modi Says My politics has only one style and that is Development
On Wednesday, Prime minister Narendra Modi made his development mantra in his forth and the Last election Jan Sabha in ahead of the Delhi Assembly Polls.
Will Pakistan be included in the FATF blacklist like North Korea and Iran?
For some time, Pakistan has been struggling to remove its name from the gray list of FATF.
India China tension: With whom is Russia?
India's Defense Minister Rajnath Singh is on a three-day visit to Russia. During this time he will hold talks with Russian military officials and will participate in a grand military parade to
Odisha: Amit Shah on the Odisha tour, participated in Tricolor Yatra with Dharmendra Pradhan in Cuttack
BJP is intensifying its campaign of south expansion. To give impetus to this, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan are on a tour of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
Demand to remove Aurangzeb's tomb: 'The government will do its work, you do your work', Rane told Hindutva organizations
Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane on Monday, referring to the demolition of the Babri Masjid, told Hindutva organizations that the government will fulfill its responsibility and they should fulfill
Meeting between Indian Ambassador and Chinese senior official, discussion on bilateral relations and regional situation
India's top diplomat in China met a senior Chinese Foreign Ministry official ahead of the crucial Congress of the ruling Communist Party and exchanged views on bilateral relations, and the
‘RCB has won the IPL…' Former star cricketer made a prediction; There was a stir in the cricket world.
Former South African fast bowler Dale Steyn has made a big and shocking prediction regarding IPL 2025. He has written on his X (formerly Twitter) that "Can you believe it? RCB has won the IPL." After
