The BJP and the BJD are in keen contest in the Pallahara Assembly seat, where elections would be held on April 23.
In the 2009 elections, Rabi Pani of the BJD had won from the constituency by defeating his nearest rival Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. While Pani secured 40,980 votes, Pradhan from the BJP got 35,513 and Bibbhudhendra Pratap Das from the Congress secured 21,258 votes. The difference in the BJD and BJP votes was 4,467 votes.
In 2014, there were 14 candidates in the fray while the main fight was between the BJD and the BJP. Mahes Sahu from the BJD had defeated BJP’s Ashok Mohanty by a margin of 5,294 votes. The Congress’ votes declined compared to the 2009 elections. Independent candidate Manoj Sahu, who was a BJD rebel, had secured 13,038 votes.
In the present elections, Independent candidate Sandeep Garnayak, who too is a BJD rebel, is poised to split the BJD votes.