Holding the key: Farmers

Jajpur: The farmers demanding just prices and pensions have launched several protests in the district, and it has become a headache for the government.Farmers are likely to hold the key in Jajpur Lok Sabha seat as farmers’ movements have gained strength here in the last five years. Even though the farmers are not affiliated to any political party they have the support of many leaders.So only a candidate who can win the support of farmers is likely to get elected from this seat.

The reason is the fact that agriculture is the main occupation in the district and many areas are not irrigated.Jajpur Lok Sabha seat is reserved for SC candidates and consists of the seven Assembly seats of Jajpur, Binjharpur, Bari, Barchana, Dharmasala, Korei and Sukinda.All the three major political parties have started brainstorming to field candidates as it is an important seat in coastal Odisha.The leaders of all parties are burning midnight oil to select candidates due to the large number of hopefuls.The leaders are examining the public support of all candidates and who can meet the expectations of farmers.

Anadi Charan Mallick and Rama Chandra Mallick won thrice from this Lok Sabha seat. Bhubananda Das, Lakshmidhar Jena, Baidhar Behera, Ananta Prasad Sethy, Anchal Das, Jagannath Mallick , Mohan Jena and Reeta Tarai have also been elected from here.Mohan Jena was elected from this seat in 2004 and 2009. Reeta Tarai of the BJD won last time securing 5,42,349 votes. She defeated BJP’s Amiya Kanta Mallick who got only 1,50,789 votes.This time OAS officer Sharmistha Sethy who took VRS and former MP Mohan Jena are the frontrunners for the BJD ticket. The name of Binjharpur MLA Pramila Mallick comes third in the party list.Reeta has not lost hope and is also in the run for the party ticket. Observers say her inability to prove herself during her tenure might cost her the ticket.Babita Mallick, Amiyakanta Mallick and Bhskar Jena are in the race for BJP ticket.The names of Manas Jena, Alok Jena and Arjun Das figure in the list of hopefuls for Congress ticket.There is a change in public support for the three parties if the results of the last Assembly elections, civic polls and panchayat elections are taken into account.The BJP has emerged as the main opposition after the last panchayat elections while the Congress has slipped into the third slot.The BJP’s rise is posing a major challenge for the BJD. There are speculations that BJD might spring a surprise and give its ticket to a senior leader in this seat.Jajpur Lok Sabha constituency has 14,43,577 votes. Of them, the number of male voters is 7,56,230 and that of female voters is 6,87,265 and that of others is 82. The male-female ratio is 909 females for every 1,000 male voters.During the 2014 elections the male-female ratio was 874. The number of voters has increased by 1,42,832 here.