Bhubaneswar: The Puri Lok Sabha seat, one of the most prestigious in the state, seems set to witness a fierce battle between BJP’s national spokesperson Sambit Patra and Biju Janata Dal’s cop-turned politician Arup Patnaik. Congress has fielded former journalist Sucharita Mohanty from the seat but she is unlikely to have much of an impact on the contest which, for all practical purposes, will be a duel between the BJD and the saffron party.

Though the constituency with a rich political history has been a stronghold of the BJD but BJP has made significant inroads in the area in recent years. The Puri Lok Sabha seat comprises seven Assembly segments including Pipili, Puri, Brahmagiri, Satyabadi, Chilika, Ranpur and Nayagarh. The sitting MLA of Puri belongs to the BJP. The saffron party was able to  establish a strong base in the Lok Sabha constituency in the last election, thanks primarily to the efforts of Sambit Patra who made his electoral debut from the seat in 2019. Patra, one of the most visible faces of the saffron party in the national media, was pitted against BJD leader and three-time MP Pinaki Misra. Though Mishra was a veteran Patra gave him a run for his money. Mishra, a Supreme Court lawyer, managed to scrape through and win the seat by a slender margin of 11,714 votes.

Thanks to Patra, who is a doctor by training, the BJP increased its vote-share by over 25 per cent. The party also gained from the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP has once again fielded Patra, who is extremely articulate and mixes easily with the people. The BJD, on the other hand, has replaced Misra with retired IPS officer-turned politician Arup Patnaik, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 LS elections from Bhubaneswar.

While the BJD would rely heavily on its development initiatives for Puri, especially the grandiose Srimandir Parikrama project, to sway voters there is no denying the advantage the BJP enjoys in the constituency where Hindutva sentiments are running high. The BJP will not only highlight the Hindutva factor it will also try to capitalise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guarantee of development.

While former Mumbai top cop Arup has been parachuted into the constituency this time and will struggle to connect with the electorate Patra has a clear edge over him in that he has stayed connected with the constituency and the people during the last five years despite his defeat. While the MP Mishra was missing, Patra traversed the length and breadth of the constituency reaching out to the voters, both in the urban and rural areas. His excellent communication skills and strong Hindutva image have endeared him to the people. He is the one currently shaping the BJP’s narrative in Puri.

Of the 17 elections held in Puri since 1952, while Congress and BJD have won six times each, BJP is yet to taste electoral success in this prestigious constituency. The Communist Party of India (CPI), Samyukta Socialist Party and Janata Party have won once each in 1957, 1967 and 1977 while the Janata Dal emerged victorious twice in 1989 and 1991.

The Congress has fielded Sucharita Mohanty from the seat. A scribe-turned politician Mohanty had secured 25 per cent votes in 2014 and was defeated by Mishra by a margin of 2.63 lakh votes. She was replaced by Satya Prakash Nayak, also a scribe, in 2019. Nayak finished a distant third and managed to bag only 3.9 per cent votes.

With its deep-rooted religious and historical significance and political dynamics, Puri remains at the forefront of political discussions, drawing attention from across the nation. The 2019 Lok Sabha elections saw a closely contested battle between Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) Pinaki Mishra and BJP’s Sambit Patra. With a staggering 72 per cent voter turnout, Pinaki Mishra won 5,38,321 votes, narrowly defeating Sambit Patra, who got 5,26,607 votes, marking a margin of just 11,714 votes. This was a significant challenge to the BJD’s grip in the constituency.

As per data from the Election Commission, there were 15,62,331 voters in the Puri constituency during the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. Out of this, 8,15,815 voters were male and 7,46,427 were female voters. 89 voters belonged to the third gender. 2,817 were postal votes in the constituency. The number of service voters in Puri in 2019 was 2,783 (2,668 were men and 115 were women).

In 2014, the total number of voters in the Puri constituency was 14,04,581. Out of this, 7,42,939 voters were male and 6,61,592 were female voters. 50 voters in this constituency belonged to the ‘others’ category. There were 1,548 postal votes in the constituency. The number of service voters in Puri in 2014 was 2,273 (1,585 were men and 688 were women).

Supreme Court lawyer Pinaki Mishra served as an MP for three terms beginning 2009. However, his narrow victory against Patra in  2019 was an indication that BJD is losing its grip on the constituency which slowly but certainly seems to be tilting towards the BJP.

Arup Patnaik, a 1979 batch IPS officer  who retired in 2015, made a name for himself as the police commissioner of Mumbai. He joined the BJD in April 2018 and currently heads the party’s social welfare wing, Odisha-Mo Parivar (Odisha my family). His political debut in 2019 Lok Sabha polls was rather disappointing as he lost on the BJD’s ticket to the BJP’s Aparajita Sarangi from Bhubaneshwar by 23,839 votes.

The battle is going to be rougher for him this time. Though he hails from Puri district he main theatre of action so far has been Bhubaneswar.  He is little known in the rural areas of Puri where Sambit Patra has successfully made a connect with the people who are likely to root for him this time. This is going to be an interesting battle.