Balasore municipality, which has a total of 31 Wards, has been grappling with age-old issues. With the urban poll scheduled to be held on March 24, will these ‘unaddressed’ issues take a toll on the prospects of all political parties?
At ‘Town Khati’, OTV’s special programmer where the voters were asked about the issues they were facing, a local said that the BJD had swept the Panchayat elections in Balasore by securing 39 Zilla Parishad seats out of the 45 and it will have a big impact on the urban polls.
“BJD continues to get the support of the people and this faith in the ruling party seems to be growing with each election. The results of rural polls will have a direct impact on polling in the 31 Wards in the municipality,” he said.
As the Congress could not even give candidates in many of the wards said a local, to give a tough fight to the BJD, the BJP needs to work more at grassroots level apart from fierce campaigning, said a local.
A resident of Ward no 12 of the municipality said, “Though the BJD has the votes, infighting due to surplus candidates may affect the party’s prospects. The BJD had around three candidates for each Ward here. Therefore, the dissidents may go against the party, benefitting the rivals in the fray.”