Ex-IAS versus ex-IPS battle in Bhubaneswar

In Bhubaneswar, one of the prestigious Lok Sabha constituencies in Odisha retired IPS officer and former Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik is locked in an interesting battle with Aparajit Sarangi, an ex-IAS officer and former commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Patnaik (not related to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik) is contesting the polls on a ruling BJD ticket while Sarangi is trying her luck as a BJP candidate.

There is another candidate— Congress-backed CPM nominee Janardhan Pati— in the fray. However, the constituency is witnessing mainly an ex-IAS versus ex-IPS battle.

The two high profile candidates have striking similarities. Both are new to politics and are making their debut in an electoral battlefield.

A Maharashtra cadre IPS, Patnaik had decided to return to his home state post his retirement and joined the Naveen Patnaik-led regional outfit to “serve the people”.

Sarangi who was an Odisha cadre IAS was in central deputation when she got “inspired by the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi” and decided to quit the all India service to join the saffron bandwagon. Both the senior government servants were known for their firebrand approach during their service days.

Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency was once known as a Congress stronghold.

However, since over two decades now, the constituency had turned into a BJD forte.

The regional outfit’s sitting MP, Prasana Patsani, who has been replaced by Arup Patnaik, had won the seat as many as five consecutive times since 1998.

The new BJD nominee has been depending heavily on the regional outfit’s strong vote bank in all the seven Assembly segments under the prestigious Lok Sabha constituency— Bhubaneswar central, Bhubaneswar north, Ekamra Bhubaneswar, Jayadev, Jatni, Khurda and Begunia.

In both 2014 and 2009, all these Assembly seats had been won by BJD candidates.

The BJP nominee Sarangi, on the other hand, is pinning hopes on the “good work” she had done during her tenure as the BMC commissioner.

Besides the “pro-Modi undercurrent” in the constituency (the prime minister had a successful roadshow in Bhubaneswar a few days ago), she and her supporters are also hopeful of getting the benefit of the discontentment in the BJD camp over ticket distribution.

The ruling party has also replaced its candidates in six out of the seven Assembly seats.