BJD’s gamble with 33pc women candidates pays off

Surjit Kumar Dhal, Bhubaneswar, May 23: The gamble of ruling BJD to field 33 per cent women candidates in the Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in state appear to have paid off hugely.

Of the seven women candidates fielded by BJD, five – Pramila Bisoyi, Manjulata Mandal, Rajashree Mallick,  Sarmistha Sethi and Chandrani Murmu – were ahead of their rivals in their respective constituencies as per the trends given by the Chief Electoral Officer Surendra Kumar.

Notably, espousing the cause of women, BJD president Naveen Patnaik had promised to send 33 per cent women to Parliament and keeping with it the regional party had given tickets to seven women candidates for Lok Sabha polls.

In Aska Parliamentary constituency, BJD’s Pramila Bisoyi leading by over 80,000 votes while in Bhadrak BJD’s Manjulata Mandal led by around 5,000 votes.

            In Jagatsinghpur, BJD’s Rajashree Mallick led by around 57,000 votes while in Jajpur the ruling party’s Sarmistha Sethi led by around 7,000 votes.

In Keonjhar, BJD’s Chandrani Murmu leding by around 10,000 votes while in Koraput BJD’s Kausalya Hikaka led by around 17,000 votes.

Meanhwhile, the candidates of the saffron party were leading in Bargarh, Balasore, Balangir, Bhubaneswar, Kalahandi, Puri, Sambalpur, Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj while the BJD candidates led in Aska, Berhampur, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Koraput and Nabarangpur.

The Congress yet again has failed to open its account.