Nuapada Assembly seat bypoll: Litmus test for BJP, BJD, Congress

New Delhi: The bypolls to the Nuapada Assembly constituency in Odisha will be a litmus test for the ruling BJP and Opposition BJD and Congress, as the three parties are looking to cement their position in the eastern state.

Necessitated by the death of BJD MLA Rajesh Dholakia in September this year, the bypolls will see whether the BJP that came to power by defeating the ageing Naveen Patnaik-led party continue its dominance while BJD and Congress will be fighting for their upper hand in the Opposition space.

BJP has fielded late Dholakia’s son Jay (32) in Nuapada, in a silent coup that upset the BJD’s plans in a seat the saffron party was third in 2024 when the entire state saw an upswing for it. Last time, BJP’s Abhinandan Panda polled 44,814 votes while Dholakia polled 61,822.

With the key leader’s family jumping the ship, the BJD has turned to its women’s wing president Snehangini Chhuria, a former minister and two-time MLA. Congress has fielded Ghasiram Majhi, an independent who came second in the 2024 polls, as its candidate.

The BJP is hoping that Jay, using his late father’s good will and personal connection, will win the seat for them and silence the opposition, which is targeting the Mohan Majhi-led government over law and order and other issues. The senior Dholakia had won Nuapada as an independent in 2004 and as BJD candidate in 2009, 2019 and 2024 while in 2014 he lost the polls.

The BJD bets on Chhuria is that she is a known woman Dalit leader and could neutralise any impact Dholakia’s ties have with voters in the seat. Her campaign is based on the BJD government’s development work in the seat as well as across the state when it was in power for 24 years.

Congress, on the other hand, had roped in Majhi, who fought as an independent and garnered 50,941 votes to become second behind Dholakia by a margin of 10,879 votes. Congress candidate, then state president Sarat Pattanayak had then polled 15,501 votes and lost the deposit.

This time, the Congress decided to bring Majhi back to the party and try to capitalise on the BJD-BJP fight. However, sources said it may not be that easy as Majhi, who had got the unwavering support of Adivasi Mahasabha in 2024 as an independent candidate, may not get the same as he is a party nominee.

Both Congress and BJD’s campaign centre around BJP’s last 16 months of “misgovernance”. A senior BJD leader claimed that Dholakia family shifting sides would not impact them, as he pointed to hardly any block or district leader or Booth Level Agents joining them.

Congress sources said they had corrected a tactical mistake of 2024. With its MLAs aggressive in the Assembly and outside and “becoming” the Opposition voice, sources said Congress believes that will also have an impact on the voters in the seat.