Stating that a strong anti-incumbency wind is blowing against the Naveen Patnaik government in the state, Swain said the new political front is aimed at "dethroning" the BJD in the 2019 elections.
In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, two regional parties in Odisha — Utkal Bharat and Samata Kranti Dal — have joined hands to float a new political front named Odisha Ganatantrika Samukhya (Odisha Democratic Front).
While Utkal Bharat is headed by MA Kharabela Swain, a three-time former MP; Samata Kranti Dal is led by former Union minister Braja Kishore Tripathy.
Swain was a three-time BJP MP from Balasore Lok Sabha constituency. In 2009, he had left the BJP and floated Utkal Bharat. Tripathy, who had been elected as MP twice from Puri Lok Sabha constituency, was a Cabinet minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He had resigned from the BJD in 2009 and briefly joined the BJP before launching his own party Samata Kranti Dal in 2013.
Stating that a strong anti-incumbency wind is blowing against the Naveen Patnaik government in the state, Swain said the new political front is aimed at "dethroning" the BJD in the 2019 elections.
Claiming that the Naveen Patnaik government has made Odisha poor during its 18 year-long rule, Swain said the Odisha Democratic Front will emerge as "real political alternative" of Naveen Patnaik. The former Balasore MP claimed that the BJD government has "failed miserably" on several fronts — healthcare, education, employment, industrialisation and agriculture.
Tripathy said the new alliance aims at the overall development of Odisha. The Assembly poll in Odisha is expected to be held simultaneously with the general election.
The new front has announced to field candidates in all the 147 assembly seats in the state. Political observers say the front will cut into the vote bank of the ruling BJD in the state.
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