Key contests to watch out for in fourth phase polls of Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The fourth and the conclusive round of simultaneous polls in Odisha is heading for a cliffhanger. Having said this, here is the list of key battles to watch out for in this phase of polls.

The electors will exercise their franchise to choose 41 assembly and six Lok Sabha candidates in this round of polls tomorrow. Only Patkura assembly segment will vote on May 19 as election was countermanded following death of BJD poll candidate Bed Prakash Agrawalla.

Let us have a look at some of the key Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls tomorrow.

KENDRAPARA LS SEAT:

Face-off: Two way contest (Anubhav Mohanty vs Baijayant Panda)

Biju Janata Dal’s Anubhav Mohanty is pitted against his former colleague Baijayant Panda and now a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate. The contest has eventually turned into a prestige battle for both the parties.

2014 results: Baijayant then a BJD candidate had won the seat with 52.74 percent votes defeating his nearest rival Dharanidhar Nayak of Congress who polled 34.35 percent votes. BJP candidate had got only 10.43 percent votes.

2009 results: Baijayant had won with 51.13 percent votes defeating Congress’ candidate Ranjib Biswal by nearly 13000 margin. BJP candidate had got only 8.18 percent votes.

BALASORE LS SEAT:

Face-off: Triangular contest (Navajyoti Patnaik, Rabindra Jena and Pratap Sarangi)

Political newbie Navajyoti Patnaik has emerged as a formidable challenge for the opponents – sitting MP Rabindra Jena and BJP candidate Pratap Sarangi. The three-cornered fight between the trio will be an interesting battle to watch.

2014 results: Rabindra Jena had defeated his rival Pratap Sarangi by nearly 1.42 lakh votes. Jena had polled 41.33 percent vote as against his opponent with 27.82 percent votes.

2009 results: Congress candidate Srikant Jena emerged victorious with 35.18 percen votes. Jena had defeated NCP’s Arun Dey by nearly 39000 votes.

BHADRAK LS SEAT:

Face-off: Two way contest (Manjulata Mandal, Abhimanyu Sethi)

This reserved constituency will witness a battle of newbies Manjulata and Abhimanyu. While BJD candidate Manjulata is the wife of former Dhamnagar MLA Muktikanta Mandal, Abhimanyu is the son of veteran politician Arjun Sethi. Sethi Sr had jumped the camp after being denied ticket. This segment will witness one of the closely fought elections in this edition.

2014 results: Arjun Sethi had won by polling 46.46 percent votes, defeating Congress candidate by nearly 1.80 lakh votes. BJP had got only 20.03 percent votes.

2009 results: Arjun Sethi had defeated Congress candidate capturing 44.86 percent votes. BJP nominee Ratha Das had polled only 13.18 percent votes.

KEY BATTLES IN PHASE 4 ASSEMBLY SEGMENTS

Of the 41 constituencies going to polls tomorrow, the below segments are likely to have a tough contest.

UNDER JAGATSINGHPUR PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY:

NIMAPARA

Face-off: Two way (Samir Ranjan Dash vs Pravati Parida)

BJD’s Samir Dash and BJP’s Pravati Parida are again locked in a bipolar contest this time.

2014 results: Dash had defeated Parida by nearly 30000 votes. The vote share difference was 17.59 percent.

2009 results: Dash had trounced Congress candidate by nearly 40000 votes.

PARADEEP

Face-off: Two way (Sambit Routray vs Arindam Sarkhel)

Veteran politician Damodar Rout’s son Sambit Routray is trying his luck from this constituency for the first time. He is pitted against trade union leader and Congress leader Arindam Sarkhel aka Bapi Sarkhel.

2014 results: Damodar Rout, a BJD candidate then, had defeated Arindam Sarkhel by nearly 39000 votes. BJP candidate had polled a mere 4 percent votes.

2009 results: Rout had won by a margin of over 30000 votes.

BALIKUDA-ERSAMA

Face-off: Two way (Raghunandan Das vs Damodar Rout)

Damodar Rout was fielded by BJP from this constituency after joining the saffron party. On the other hand, BJD replaced sitting MLA Prashant Muduli with Raghunandan Das. Muduli has been fielded from Jagatsinghpur. All eyes will be on this contest too.

2014 results: Prashant Muduli had defeated Congress candidate Lalatendu Mohapatra who is again contesting election from this constituency. Muduli won the seat by a margin of nearly 30000 votes.

2009 results: Prashant Muduli had won the seat by over 31000 votes.

UNDER BHADRAK PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY:

CHANDBALI

Face-off: Two way (Byomakesh Ray vs Manmohan Samal)

BJD’s sitting MLA Byomakesh Ray has been fielded against former Minister and BJP leader Manmohan Samal.

2014 results: Byomakesh Ray had defeated his nearest rival of Congress by nearly 25000 votes. Samal secured third position with 24.99 percent vote share.

2009 results: BJD candidate Bijaya Nayak had won by a slender margin of 7613 votes.

BHANDARIPOKHARI

Face-off: Two way (Prafulla Samal vs Niranjan Patnaik)

Sitting MLA Prafulla Samal is contesting against Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik who is also fighting elections from Ghasipura assembly seat under Keonjhar parliamentary segment.

2014 results: Samal had won the seat by over 34000 votes defeating his Congress rival Subrat Kumar Das.

2009 results: Samal had defeated Congress’ Badri Narayan Dhal by over 20000 votes.

UNDER JAJPUR PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY:

SUKINDA

Face-off: Two way (Pritiranjan Ghadai vs Sarat Rout)

BJD’s sitting MLA Pritiranjan Ghadai is again pitted against Congress’ Sarat Rout.

2014 results: Ghadai, son of Prafulla Ghadai, had defeated Rout by a narrow margin of 4704 votes.

2009 results: Ghadai Sr had edged Rout by merely 2403 votes.

UNDER KENDRAPARA PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY:

KENDRAPARA

Face-off: Two way (Sashi Bhusan Behera vs Ganeswar Behera)

Last minute ticket to Sashi Bhusan Behera to contest from Kendrapara had created flutters among the supporters and party cadres. The Bhubaneswar-Jayadev MLA was fielded against Congress’ Ganeswar Behera.

2014 results: Kishore Chandra Tarai had defeated Behera by 5432 votes.

2009 results: Sipra Mallick had defeated Ganeswar Behera by 15931 votes.

UNDER MAYURBHANJ PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY:

UDALA

Face-off: Two way (Srinath Soren vs Bhaskar Madhei)

The sub divisional town of tribal-dominated Mayurbhanj district will witness an interesting fight among the candidates this time.

2014 results: Golakbihari Nayak had defeated BJP candidate Bhaskar Madhei by 8529 votes. Naik had polled 35.97 percent votes.

2009 results: Srinath Soren had trounced his Congress rival by 11193 votes.

It may be mentioned here that the six Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls tomorrow had high turnout in the last election. Mayurbhanj recorded highest polling with 79.44 percent followed by Balasore at 76.84 percent. Voting in Kendrapara was lowest among these at 73.14 percent.

While the four-phase election beginning April 11 will come to an end tomorrow, the results will be declared on May 23. In the meantime, Election Commission will hold fresh polls in Patkura and repolling of third phase and fourth phase (if any) before the counting date.