BHUBANESWAR: For the first time in a political career spanning over two decades, chief minister Naveen Patnaik will contest from two assembly seats — Bijepur in Bargarh district in western Odisha and his usual seat of Hinjili in Ganjam district in the south-coastal part of the state, which he has been winning for the past four assembly elections.While BJD attributed the decision to the ‘love and affection’ the chief minister had received from the people of western Odisha, BJP circulated an intelligence report that said Naveen should not contest from Hinjili in view of ‘significant dissatisfaction among the local people’. The report — attributed to the Odisha Police’s State Intelligence Branch and dated March 15, 2019 — suggested he contest the polls from Rourkela, Bijepur, Balangir or Titilagarh. Odisha Police called the report fake. “A fake document purported to be assessment report of some assembly segments by Odisha Police Intelligence Department has been shown in a press meet by a political party. It is clarified that the document is absolutely fake and fabricated. An FIR is being registered in this matter,” DGP R P Sharma tweeted.Naveen — who made his debut in electoral politics by fighting a Lok Sabha byelection in Aska that was necessitated by the death of his father and sitting MP Biju Patnaik in 1997 — fought the last four assembly polls from only Hinjili. “I will contest from Bijepur apart from Hinjili this time,” he said on Monday.Away from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, western Odisha has traditionally voted against the incumbent government. The region is plagued by poverty and is less developed than the relatively prosperous coastal Odisha; anti-government sentiment finds fertile ground here. By announcing that he will contest from the region, Naveen has tried to counter perceived resentment against his government in western Odisha and to check the possible rise of BJP, said analysts.Prasanna Acharya, BJD’s MP candidate from Bargarh, termed Naveen’s decision as a way of honouring the wishes of the people of western Odisha. “People from all walks of life had requested him to contest from the western part of the state. He listened to them,” Acharya said.Acharya had fought from the Bijepur assembly seat in 2014 but had been defeated by Congress’s Subal Sahu by a narrow margin of around 450 votes. After Sahu died in 2017, BJD fielded his wife Rita in the byelection held in February 2018. She won the high-voltage contest by defeating BJP nominee Ashok Panigrahi by 42,000 votes. Ever since, Bijepur has held great symbolic value for Naveen.The BJP on Monday said the chief minister’s desire to look for an alternative seat emanated from his fear of losing from Hinjili. Quoting the purported intelligence report, BJP’s youth wing state president Tankadhar Tripathy said, ‘Naveen fears he may lose from Hinjili’.The 'intelligence report' further said, “Lack of amenities and infrastructure causing significant dissatisfaction among the local people. Multiple instances of false disbursement under Kalia scheme has caused anger among the farming community.” It also said, “Post-cyclone relief work has reached only those who are close to the local unit of BJD, causing resentment in the rest of the constituency.”Naveen on Monday named candidates for 54 of the 63 assembly seats going to the polls in the first two phases on April 11 and 18. He dropped 14 sitting MLAs while bringing 26 news faces.

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