BHUBANESWAR: With only four days remaining for the by-poll to the Umerkote Assembly constituency, all the three serious contenders are leaving nothing to chance. Never in the history of Odisha has a by-election generated so much hype, that too in one of the remotest corners of the State. The importance of Umerkote for the BJD can be gauged from the fact that as many as 13 ministers and more than 30 MLAs, led by party strategist Pyarimohan Mohapatra, are camping in the constituency to ensure victory for party candidate Subhas Gond. The campaigning by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday in the constituency, where he addressed two public meetings at Umerkote and Raighar, has boosted the morale of the BJD campaigners. The BJD camp was jittery because of the Maoist threat to its leaders and the number of scams against the State Government.The Bengali votes still remain a problem for the BJD. Bengali settlers comprise more than 10 per cent in the constituency and they play a crucial role in deciding the fate of candidates in every election. To counter the impact of Naveen’s election meeting at Raighar, the BJP has sought the help of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh. He will address a meeting at Raigarh on November 28. The BJP also took out a motorcycle rally at Umerkote to neutralise the impact of Naveen’s campaign in the town on Friday. Never before was there such a big motorcycle rally in the town, Ashok Sahu, the party’s spokesman, said. Meanwhile, former Union minister and Orissa in-charge Jagdish Tytler addressed several meetings in the constituency on Saturday. Two AICC secretaries, Mirza Irshad Baig and Binay Sorake, State president Niranjan Patnaik, Nabarangpur MP Pradip Majhi and several senior leaders are leading the Congress campaign in the constituency in a bid to wrest the seat from the BJD.
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