The by-poll to Odisha’s Pipili assembly seat is being held with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress hoping to wrest it from the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) that has held it since 2000. It was necessitated after BJD lawmaker Pradeep Maharathy, who won the seat a record seven times, died of Covid in October last year. The by-poll was first scheduled on April 17, but it was postponed after Congress candidate Ajit Mangaraj’s death three days before the polling. It was rescheduled to May 16. The by-poll was deferred again as a lockdown was imposed in view of rising Covid-19 cases.
BJD has fielded Maharathy’s son, Rudra, 32, for the by-poll. Ashrit Pattanayak, who lost to Maharathy in 2019, is the BJP candidate and Biswakeshan Harichandan Mohapatra that of the Congress. There are four other contestants including three Independent candidates.
The by-poll will be the last major electoral exercise in the state before the panchayat polls in February and urban bodies elections soon after. This is the first election since 2017 for which chief minister Naveen Patnaik did not campaign even virtually. Patnaik did not also campaign for the 2017 panchayat polls in which BJP made significant inroads.
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BJD deputed a dozen ministers and two dozen lawmakers for campaigning. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and former central minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi led the BJP campaign. Congress state chief Niranjan Patnaik was in charge of his party’s campaign.
{{/usCountry}}BJD deputed a dozen ministers and two dozen lawmakers for campaigning. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and former central minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi led the BJP campaign. Congress state chief Niranjan Patnaik was in charge of his party’s campaign.
{{/usCountry}}The campaigning was restricted due to the pandemic. Door-to-door campaigns were limited to five people. Of the 348 booths in the constituency, 102 have been declared highly sensitive.
Chief electoral officer (Odisha) Sushil Lohani said voting at sensitive polling stations was being webcast. Micro observers have been posted at 23 polling booths while 2,000 police personnel have been deployed to ensure a smooth election. All polling agents deployed at booths have been fully vaccinated, Lohani said.