‘Death may hurt BJD in Western Odisha’

BHUBANESWAR: BJD has lost three prominent leaders —Bijay Ranjan Sigh Bariha, Naba Kisore Das and Kishore Mohanty — in western Odisha’s Bargarh and Jharsuguda districts in last one year, dealing a blow to the ruling party ahead of the 2024 elections.
Mohanty (64), who was representing Brajarajnagar assembly constituency of Jharsuguda district, suffered a massive heart attack when he was attending a meeting on December 30, 2021.His wife Alaka Mohanty won the subsequent bypoll on a BJD ticket in June 2022.
Das (61) was not just a three-time MLA of Jharsuguda, but was a highly influential leader in western Odisha. Das won the Jharsuguda seat on a Congress ticket consecutively in 2009 and 2014, before switching to BJD. He won the seat on a BJD ticket in 2019.
Bariha (64), who was BJD’s Padampur MLA, died after prolonged illness on October 3, 2022. His daughter Barsha won the seat in bypoll on a BJD ticket in December last year.
“Jharsuguda district has only two assembly constituencies — Jharsuguda and Brajarajnagar. Unfortunately, both the BJD MLAs died in a span of two years. The party will have to work hard to keep its bastion strong,” said Tanmay Tripathy, a political analyst.TNN