BARGARH: With the three-tier panchayat elections inching closer, political parties are drumming up their campaign to win the maximum number of Zilla Parishad (ZP) seats in the district. BJP, which emerged as the clear leader in the last ZP polls, is in a quest to retain its seats while the ruling BJD hopes to improve its tally over the previous count by a significant margin.
In 2017 elections, BJP had won 25 of the 34 ZP seats while BJD could only bag nine seats. Congress could not open its account. To better its show this time, BJD is focusing on development issues of gram panchayats (GPs) to woo voters.
Bargarh MLA Debesh Acharya claimed that BJD is in an advantageous position. “We are focusing on key development issues of people in villages raised by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. We will work towards implementing all the government schemes and projects in the district. These include rural pipe water supply and Gangadhar Meher lift irrigation projects besides the school transformation initiative.”
"BJD is committed to making healthcare facilities available to people in every village through Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BKSY). The cancer hospital project will help the ruling party to win over voters," the MLA added.
State president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Irasis Acharya, however, said there are some long-standing problems in the district that the ruling party has not been able to address.
"The mess in paddy procurement, especially the deduction of paddy from farmers, is a major issue. Besides, people are unhappy with the delay in the development of the cancer hospital and discrepancies in the disbursal of housing units under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) to beneficiaries."
“Now, BJD is using muscle power to brazen out its failures on various fronts including the safety of women and children. This will have a bearing on the polls and voters will choose our candidates over BJD,” Irasis added.
Congress too is hopeful of putting up a spirited fight this time by raising the inaction of BJD over issues relating to paddy procurement.
Senior Congress leader Pradeep Debata said, “People of Bargarh are aware of the negligence of BJD towards farmers. Thousands of farmers have failed to sell their paddy due to which they have lost faith in the ruling party. As Congress has been fighting for farmers’ rights since long, our candidates are receiving a positive response from voters.”