PolitMaster.com is a comprehensive online platform providing insightful coverage of the political arena: International Relations, Domestic Policies, Economic Developments, Electoral Processes, and Legislative Updates. With expert analysis, live updates, and in-depth features, we bring you closer to the heart of politics. Exclusive interviews, up-to-date photos, and video content, alongside breaking news, keep you informed around the clock. Stay engaged with the world of politics 24/7.
In a state that it once dominated and is now almost relegated to the margins, the undivided Koraput region in south Odisha is the Congress’s last remaining refuge where it still has a sizable vote share.
The last time the Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency in south Odisha drew national attention was in 1996 when former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao contested the seat.
THERE IS hardly any election conversation in Odisha where his name doesn’t come up. Till recently a top bureaucrat, V K Pandian is now the virtual No. 2 of the ruling BJD in the state and the man who has the ears of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He is also the main target of the BJP’s attack, which hopes to stall the BJD in its home state, where it has been in power now for over 24 years. As the two parties, which briefly contemplated an alliance, now take on each other as prime rivals, Pandian recently said the BJP may try to form the government by any means if it gets 50-60 seats in Assembly polls. Excerpts from an interview with Pandian at Gopalpur, before he left for his day’s campaign:
The Election Commission (EC)’s move transferring senior IAS officer Sujata R Karthikeyan, wife of bureaucrat-turned-BJD leader V K Pandian, from Mission Shakti to a “non-public facing department” came on a complaint filed by the BJP, which alleged that Karthikeyan was dealing with the public during the elections as a “BJD agent”.
The Election Commission (EC)’s move transferring senior IAS officer Sujata R Karthikeyan, wife of bureaucrat-turned-BJD leader V K Pandian, from Mission Shakti to a “non-public facing department” came on a complaint filed by the BJP, which alleged that Karthikeyan was dealing with the public during the elections as a “BJD agent”.
In a blow to the Congress ahead of the elections in Odisha, its Puri Lok Sabha candidate Sucharita Mohanty returned her poll party ticket citing the alleged denial of funding by the party.
While denying tickets to a slew of its sitting legislators and senior leaders across Odisha for the Assembly polls, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has, in many cases, replaced them with their wives or children in their constituencies, fearing “rebellion” and “defection”.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will contest from a second seat, Kantabanji, in the state’s western region, besides his traditional bastion of Hinjili, in the upcoming assembly elections.