LS polls: Will Congress succeed in retaining its bastion Koraput in Odisha?

Koraput: Koraput Lok Sabha seat, traditionally a Congress bastion which went to the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) briefly for 10 years — in 2004 and 2009 — is all set to see a triangular contest this time as the ruling BJD and the opposition BJP and Congress have fielded high-profile candidates.

However, all the three parties are facing an identical challenge — intense intra-party bickering.

The Congress has won the seat 16 times since 1957. This time, it has re-nominated the sitting Lok Sabha member Saptagiri Ulaka who in the 2019 polls defeated BJD’s Kausalya Hikaka by a slender margin of 3,613, is now facing infighting and dissidence. Disgruntled leaders have reportedly turned open rebels and do not see eye to eye with the MP and MLA candidates in the district.

Opposing their own nominees and challenging the decision of the top leaders, some leaders have even filed nominations as independents for the Lok Sabha seat and Assembly seats such as Gunupur, Bissam Cuttack and Jeypore.

Sitting MP Saptagiri Ulaka has been repeated this time in Koraput, but youth leader Abinash Gamang, son of the president of the Koraput district Congress committee, has filed a nomination as an independent.

Jayaram Pangi, who had recently left the Bharat Rashtra Samiti and joined the Congress, was eyeing to contest from the seat. However, he is reportedly sulking after he was denied the ticket.

Political observers say that when the grand old party is struggling for its revival, the infighting will wreak havoc in Koraput.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Kaliram Majhi, ignoring the claim of Bhagaban Muduli, a Paraja tribal community leader. Reports added that Muduli is a bit unhappy and might not throw his full weight behind the party’s candidate, though he has not yet shown any semblance of discontentment of rebellion.

Uneasy calm also prevails in the BJD camp as Tulsar Kirsam, a strong tribal leader hailing from Lamatapur area was denied the party ticket. The party reposed faith on the Kausalya Hikaka who was lost to Saptagiri in 2019.

According to T Gouri, a local journalist, as the three political parties have a strong presence in the constituency, the results might go in any of the three players’ way.

“It’s too difficult to say which candidate has an edge here this time. The contest is evenly balanced. Any candidate reaching out to the voters in an effective manner has a chance to win the seat. While the BJD candidate will heavily bank on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s image to sail through, the BJP candidate will rely on brand Narenda Modi and party symbol ‘lotus’ to woo voters. The Congress, on the other hand, will try to reconnect and revive its bond with multiple tribal communities here who traditionally vote for the party,” added Souri.