BJP's Jay Panda tries to break through Biju Patnaik's Kendrapara bastion

Kendrapara in Coastal Odisha has been nurtured on socialist and anti-Congress ideologies since the 1950s. It is the epi-centre of the socialist movement in the state which severely opposed the Congress right after the first Lok Sabha elections in 1952. Such was the antagonism to the Congress that the party couldn't win the seat after the first Lok Sabha polls in 1952 and it became a strong socialist parties' bastion.

Even in 1980 and 1984, when the entire state was swept by the Congress wave, the party won 20 of the 21 LS seats. That one seat was Kendrapara. In the late 70s and early 80s, Kendrapara became the constituency of Biju Patnaik, the stalwart social leader and two-time chief minister and father of the current chief minister Naveen Patnaik. At one time, former Lok Sabha Speaker Rabi Ray also represented the seat. Biju Patnaik became the chief minister of the state for the second time from 1990 to 1995.

In 1996, senior Patnaik contested the LS election from Aska Lok Sabha and after his death, his son Naveen Patnaik represented the seat. Naveen Patnaik broke away from the Janata Dal and launched the BJD in 1997. In 2000, Naveen Patnaik became the chief minister. In the same year, Baijayant Panda became a Rajya Sabha MP from the BJD. Baijayant's father and noted industrialist Bansidhar Panda and Biju Patnaik were friends. Therefore, when it came to Jay Panda contesting the LS election, Naveen Patnaik offered him the pocket borough Kendrapara Lok Sabha. Panda won twice in 2009 and 2014 before moving to the BJP. In 2019, Panda was in the fray on a BJP ticket and got defeated by the BJD candidate and Odia film actor Anubhav Mohanty. Anubhav Mohanty has now joined the BJP and BJD has put its bet on former Congress MLA from Rajanagar assembly constituency falling under Kendrapara, Anshuman Mohanty.

The BJD has been pulling out all stops to maintain the winning track record in Kendrapara. In 2019, BJD won all the six assembly seats falling under Kendrapara LS constituency.

Naveen Patnaik has himself addressed a public meeting in Kendrapara. The challenger BJP is more enthusiastic this time and is campaigning on the 'vote for change' narrative. PM Modi and other senior BJP leaders are scheduled to campaign in Kendrapara this week, with Modi visiting on Tuesday.

At an auto workshop in Kendrapara town, Bharat Gahan (52) and Ramesh Chandra Patra (55), both motor mechanics, are discussing the election outcome in Kendrapara. "This time, BJP is running a high-voltage campaign. Par yahan BJD ka jyada hai (BJD has an edge here)," Patra says. They both complain that Jay Panda rarely visited the place after he lost in 2019.

Kendrapara has 4-5% minority population which has historically sided with the BJD. "Naveen government takes care of the poor and downtrodden and it has become a habit to vote for the BJD," MS Khan (48), a tailor shop owner in Kendrapara town, says.

This is one side of the story. There are also voters who are looking for a change in Kendrapara. Vinay Mahalik (47), is into fish business in Garapur Bungalow, Kendrapara. In 2019, he voted for the BJD in the assembly and LS polls. "This time, I will vote for the BJP in both the LS as well as assembly," he says.

Kendrapara is the unofficial plumbing capital of India. Plumbers from this small town of Odisha work everywhere in India and around the world. There are several ITIs where youngsters get trained in plumbing and move to other parts of the country.

Padmalochan Raut (27) from Rajkanika is one such migrant worker who works in Hyderabad. "I am here because of an ailment and will go back once I get better. The BJP is better for the country while Naveen Patnaik is better for Odisha," he says, indicating that he would be one of the split voters in the area.

Ajay Kumar Malik (38) runs a transport business and has always voted for the BJD. "This time, the 'hawa' is in favour of the BJP. The BJD candidate is not as experienced as Jay Panda," he says, admitting that he will vote for the Lotus symbol this time.

In 2019, Anubhav Mohanty of the BJD won this seat by a margin of almost 1,52,584. The challenge for Panda is to get a good number of 'change' voters to his side.