OdishaPlus Bureau
Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik has commissioned seven senior ministers and 18 MLAs to ensure the party’s victory in the July 20 Patkura assembly election.
The decision was taken at a meeting of party leaders at his residence. Patnaik has made the Patkura election a “prestige issue” and accordingly asked senior BJD leaders to work in all the fifty-one gram panchayats of the constituency to ensure Agarwal’s victory. Sabitri Agarwal is the candidate here. She is the widow of former minister and sitting Patkura MLA Bed Prakash Agarwal.
The CM also directed the MLAs to work under the supervision of the ministers in specific areas of the constituency. Senior ministers who were assigned the task of ensuring BJD’s victory are Prafulla Mallick, Ranendra Pratap Swain, Arun Kumar Sahoo, Sushant Kumar Singh, Samir Ranjan Dash, Raghunandan Das, and Divya Shankar Mishra.
Senior BJD leaders Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak and Ranendra Pratap Swain have been made in-charge of the two sensitive blocks of Garadpur and Marshaghai.
BJP candidate Mohapatra is conducting a door-to-door campaign in Patkura.”People will teach BJD a lesson. They will create history by voting for the BJP and against the BJD misrule of over the past 20 years,” he said.
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan claimed his party will win the seat. The Congress party too exuded confidence that its candidate Jayant Mohanty will win the seat.
By-elections to the Patkura assembly will be held on July 20th and results will be declared on 24th.