In Balasore tight race, Congress old hand Srikant Jena makes going tough for ex-Union MoS

While the Congress may be in with a chance in only a couple of seats in Odisha’s southern parts among the state’s total of 21 Lok Sabha constituencies, the party is hoping for a breakthrough in Balasore in the coastal region, where it has fielded former Union minister and four-time MP Srikant Jena.

Jena’s entry into the Balasore fray has made the contest a triangular affair. The BJP has renominated its sitting MP and ex-Union minister Pratap Sarangi, popularly known as “Nana”, while the BJD has given its ticket to a BJP turncoat Lekhasri Samantsinghar to wrest the seat which it held only once, in 2014.

Just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Jena, who was expelled from the Congress in January 2019 for “anti-party” activities, returned to the party, with AICC Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar playing a key role in his “homecoming”.

Jena, 73, remains popular among a section of the voters in Balasore for the work he did in the constituency during his previous stints as MP and Union minister. Since he returned to the Congress in March, Jena has resumed work on the ground, activating his networks in the constituency.

In his campaign, Jena showcased several projects – including the establishment of units of the Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology, AIIMS and the North Odisha Chamber of Commerce and Industry, upgradation of the national highway 60, and the grant of a medical college – which he claims to have ensured in Balasore.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Jena had won the Balasore seat with 35.18% of the votes, but finished third in 2014, when his vote share dipped to 26.44%. In 2019, the Congress’s vote share plummeted to 15.49%, when Navajyoti Patnaik, the son of former Odisha party chief Niranjan Patnaik, contested