Bhubaneswar: BJD Nominates Manmath Routray, Son Of Congress Leader Suresh Routray (image-Facebook/Manmath Routray For Better Bhubaneswar)

Son of senior Congress leader Suresh Kumar Routray, Manmath Routray officially joined BJD on March 28. Soon after, he was declared the party’s candidate for the Lok Sabha constituency of Bhubaneswar for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Following his son’s announcement as the BJD candidate, Suresh Routray resigned from all committees of the Odisha Congress. The six-time Congress MLA said that the reason behind his decision was that his son joined the BJD against his advice. “It has hurt me. Therefore, I am willing to tender resignation from all committees of the party,” he said, as quoted by The New Indian Express. Despite his wishes of seeing his son as a Congress candidate, Routray has given his blessings to Manmath for his electoral journey.

Meanwhile, Manmath Routray said that he will work for the ideology of his father and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. “Both leaders have one agenda in life, and that is development. I will work for the development of Odisha,” he added.

The Lok Sabha candidate resigned as a pilot for Air India and returned to Odisha in January this year.

The Bhubaneswar constituency witnessed Congress rule from 1962 to 1971. However, with an anti-Congress wave in the nation in 1977, CPI(M) candidate Shivaji Patnaik secured victory. The next elections witnessed a comeback of Congress rule, with Chintamani Panigrahi winning the seat in 1980 and 1984. Once again, the people switched to CPI(M) candidate Shivaji Patnaik for 1989 and 1991.

But the political climate changed when Naveen Patnaik formed his political party, BJD, in 1997. With Prasanna Kumar Patasani as its candidate, the BJD went on to represent the Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency from 1998 to 2014. But the long winning streak of the party came to an end when the BJP fielded Commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Aparajita Sarangi, as its candidate in the 2019 elections. Sarangi won with 4.8 lakh votes, while BJD’s Arup Patnaik won 4.6 lakh votes.

The capital of Odisha, Bhubaneswar, has a population of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe of 13.21 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively.

The Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency comprises Vidhan Sabhas including Jayadev (SC), Bhubaneswar Central, Bhubaneswar North, Ekamra-Bhubaneswar, Jatani, Begunia, and Khurda. While Jatani is represented by Congress, all the other assembly segments are represented by the BJD.