BHUBANESWAR: Notwithstanding the general perception that the bypoll to Athgarh Assembly constituency will be a one-sided affair in favour of the BJD candidate, the Congress is all set to give the ruling party nominee a run for its money.Athgarh is considered the pocket borough of BJD candidate Ranendra Pratap Swain. Though he had won four consecutive elections from the constituency till 2009, the Congress is pulling out all stops to give him a tough fight this time.Swain got the BJD ticket despite reservations from an influential section of the party. Besides, a number of party leaders from Cuttack district did not want entry of Swain into the Assembly again. Popular though, Swain has a number of detractors in the constituency.The Congress has fielded Suresh Mohapatra. Party spokesman Arjya Kumar Gyanendra said the Congress aims at improving its vote share from the last election for which it will have to rebuild the organisation from scratch. Political observers believe that the Congress candidate, who is not a pushover, can unite all the anti- Swain forces in Athgarh in his favour.Mohapatra had earlier contested Assembly polls twice unsuccessfully from Cuttack and Barabati-Cuttack City constituencies in 2004 and 2009. Sources in the OPCC say the party wants to improve its position, which had plunged to an alltime low in 2009. In the last Assembly polls, Congress candidate Subhas Mohanty had polled 7,373 votes.The BJP too faced a similar situation in the constituency.Party candidate Rama Narayan Mohanty could garner only 3,352 votes.BJD-backed Independent Ramesh Rout had romped home by securing 68,836 votes while another Independent, Bichitrananda Muduli, a Congress rebel, had polled 43,291 votes.The Congress has planned a high-voltage campaign in the constituency as its stakes are high in the bypoll.While Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is likely to campaign for the party candidate for a day, the Congress campaign will be spearheaded by OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik.
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