Rebels queer pitch for big parties in Orissa

MANDATE 2004/ Campaign Trail

Even as the second round of simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections draws nearer in the state, the presence of rebels threaten the prospects of official candidates of all the major political parties.

While the problem is dogging the Opposition Congress, it is the ruling Biju Janata Dal- Bharatiya Janata Party combine which is bearing the maximum brunt of these Independent candidates, who have entered the fray after being denied party nominations.

In a desperate move, BJD has expelled 10 leaders, including three former MLAs , who are contesting against their own party candidates. Earlier, BJP had expelled eight leaders, including three former legislators, on the same ground.

But political analysts say that the action against rebels a few days before elections is unlikely to have an impact as far as curbing the capacity of the rebels to split the vote that would have otherwise been cast in favour of the official candidates. Such a scenario could lead to loss of official candidates by a narrow margin in few seats, they added.

Apart from BJP rebel Balgopal Mishra , who is out to mar the chances of Sangeeta Singhdeo in Bolangir Lok Sabha seat , at least 11 outgoing BJD-BJP combine MLAs have joined the rebel bandwagon and are set to hamper the prospects of alliance candidates.

State BJP president Manmohan Samal is fighting the elections with his back to the wall in Dhamnagar assembly seat due to presence of rebel BJD leader Manas Mallik in the fray.

Prominent BJP leaders who have turned rebel and since been expelled from the party include Madhusudan Singh, Paresh Nayak, Suresh Patel, Bibhisan Nayak and Bidyadhar Dehuri.

"All of them eventually might not make much of a difference, but it certainly goes against BJP's interests. Every vote is important and the number of votes they garner would otherwise have come to us," state BJP secretary Sameer Mohanty observed.

Similarly, prominent among the BJD leaders who are contesting as rebel candidates in their respective constituencies include former MLAs Nabin Nanda, Bijay Laxmi Patnaik, Debraj Mohanty, Sachidananda Dalal, Bhajaman Behera, Kamalakant Pande, Laxmidhar Tripathy and Akhyaya Dhal.

Similarly, at least 16 Congress leaders have filed nominations as Independent candidates. They include Bhagirathy Badajena, Kartik Patra, Debi Prasanna Chand and Swagatika Patnaik. Party spokesman Arya Kumar Gyanendra said that these leaders would face disciplinary action.