National
Constituency Watch: Prestige battle for BJD, BJP in Odisha's Berhampur
Bhubaneswar, April 8 (IANS) Battle lines are drawn for the Lok Sabha elections in Odisha with the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announcing candidates for almost all the constituencies.
While the BJP has fielded its candidates on all the 21 parliamentary seats in the state, the BJD has so far released the names of 20 nominees for the Lok Sabha elections.
Ganjam district’s Berhampur Lok Sabha seat is among the high-profile constituencies in the state which will remain in the focus during the upcoming elections. It is the home turf of Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik.
The BJD is leaving no stone unturned to retain the seat while an exuberant BJP is putting all the efforts to wrest it from the ruling party.
It is a battle of prestige for both the parties in Berhampur keeping in view the rivalry between BJP candidate Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy, once a top BJD leader in Ganjam, and the ruling party leadership.
The Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency includes Chhatrapur, Gopalpur, Berhamapur, Digapahandi and Chikiti Assembly segments in Ganjam district and Mohana and Paralakhemundi Assembly segments in Gajapati district.
The number of voters in this constituency stands at around 15.67 lakh as per the latest estimate.
Both BJP and BJD have posed their faith in party hoppers for the Berhampur constituency. The BJP has nominated former BJD heavyweight and sitting Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy, while the ruling BJD fielded BJP rebel Bhrugu Baxipatra for the seat.
Baxipatra was nominated just a few hours after he walked out of the BJP.
Baxipatra had fought the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 from the same seat on a BJP ticket but lost to BJD’s Chandra Sekhar Sahu who won by a margin of 94,844 votes. Sahu had secured 4,43,843 (44.83 per cent) votes out of the total 9, 90,087 votes polled.
Once a trusted lieutenant of the BJD supremo, Panigrahy turned a foe after being expelled from the party over the charges of anti-people activities. He had won from the Gopalpur Assembly seat on a BJD ticket in 2019.
Political analysts predict a neck-to-neck fight in Berhampur this time as Panigrahy and Baxipatra will strive hard to capture the seat.
“It is hard to predict the winner this time as the political scenario in the constituency has changed. Panigrahy used to oversee all the party-related affairs of BJD in Ganjam district and his strong support base in the district is still intact despite the allegations of corruption. Panigrahy’s hold may give some advantage to the BJP apart from the party’s craze among the electors this time, especially among younger voters,” said Rajiblochan Mishra, a Berhampur-based senior journalist.
“Similarly, Baxipatra has been visiting various assembly segments under the constituency and has also managed to create a good support base during the past couple of years,” he added.
It will be also interesting to see how Panigrahy manages to gain a foothold in the Paralakhemundi and Mohana segments in Gajapati district where Baxipatra, as a BJP candidate, had secured more votes than his BJD opponent in 2019, Mishra said.
“The current BJD representative of the constituency has failed to address various concerns of the locals, including infrastructural transformation, unemployment, inadequate health services as well as other economic and cultural issues. We will fight on these issues… There are several long-held demands of people in Berhampur, such as the establishment of an airport in Ganjam and complete upgradation of Gopalpur Port, which are yet to be fulfilled,” Panigrahy told IANS.
Similarly, BJD candidate Baxipatra exuded confidence in smooth sailing for the party in the upcoming election. “Our main strength is the development-related work carried out by the BJD in the last 25 years and the clean image of Naveen Patnaik. Ganjam is his home district and the people in the district consider Naveen Patnaik as their own leader and BJD as their own political party,” he said.
“Since losing the last elections in 2019, I have been working for the constituency and standing by the people beyond the party line during their ups and downs in all seven Assembly segments. I am confident that BJD will once again win this Lok Sabha seat due to my continuous hard work and people’s love for Naveen Patnaik and the BJD,” Baxipatra told IANS.
A beleaguered Congress, which is fighting a battle within to thwart the exodus of its leaders, has fallen behind in the race as it has so far declared candidates on only nine Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.
The Congress has named Rashmi Ranjan Patnaik as the party candidate for the Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency. He will try his luck for the first time in electoral politics.
According to experts, very few voters, only in some specific pockets of the urban areas of the constituency, know Ranjan Patnaik and thus his participation would not change the election calculations much in the constituency. However, he may gain some votes in tribal-dominated Mohana and Paralakhemundi Assembly segments in Gajapati district.
–IANS
gyan/sha
National
Defence Ministry: Year 2025 will be year of reforms
On Wednesday, the Defence Ministry announced that 2025 will be designated as the “Year of Reforms,” with a primary focus on establishing integrated theatre commands to enhance collaboration among the three branches of the military.
These reforms are aimed at transforming the armed forces into a technologically advanced, combat-ready force capable of executing multi-domain integrated operations, the ministry stated.
The initiative will emphasize emerging domains such as cyber and space, alongside cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, hypersonics, and robotics.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh described the “Year of Reforms” as a pivotal milestone in the modernization of the armed forces.
“It will set the stage for significant advancements in the nation’s defense capabilities, ensuring the security and sovereignty of India in the face of 21st-century challenges,” he said.
National
A 3.2 magnitude tremor struck Gujarat’s Kutch district on Wednesday morning
A 3.2 magnitude tremor struck Gujarat’s Kutch district on Wednesday morning, according to the Institute of Seismological Research (ISR).
The district administration reported no casualties or property damage following the quake.
The tremor occurred at 10:24 am, with its epicenter located 23 kilometers north-northeast (NNE) of Bhachau, as per the Gandhinagar-based ISR.
Last month, the region experienced four seismic events exceeding a magnitude of 3, including a 3.2 magnitude tremor just three days ago, with its epicenter also near Bhachau.
Earlier tremors in the area included a 3.7 magnitude earthquake on December 23 and a 3.2 magnitude event on December 7, according to ISR reports.
Kutch was also jolted by a 4.0 magnitude earthquake on November 18, 2024. On November 15, a 4.2 magnitude quake hit Patan in north Gujarat, based on ISR data.
Gujarat is considered a high-risk earthquake zone, having experienced nine major earthquakes over the past 200 years, according to the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA). The 2001 earthquake in Kutch, which occurred on January 26, was the third-largest and second-most destructive in India in the last two centuries, according to the GSDMA.
National
Diljit Dosanjh faces legal action over concert songs
Singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh’s much-anticipated New Year’s Eve concert in Ludhiana faced legal hurdles after a complaint was filed by Punditrao Dharenavar, an assistant professor from Chandigarh.
Following the complaint, the Deputy Director of the Women and Child Department, Government of Punjab, issued a formal notice to Ludhiana’s District Commissioner, urging them to prohibit Dosanjh from performing specific songs during his live show on December 31, 2024.
The notice specifically targets songs accused of promoting alcohol, including Patiala Peg, 5 Tara Theke, and Case (Jeeb Vicho Feem Labbiya), even if the lyrics are slightly modified. The complaint points to previous warnings issued to Dosanjh by various commissions advising against performing these controversial tracks.
Despite these warnings, the singer allegedly continues to perform the songs with minor alterations. Dharenavar raised serious concerns about the influence of such music on young audiences, especially when minors are present at live events.
Adding to the controversy, Dharenavar referenced a 2019 Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling, which directed law enforcement to ensure that songs promoting alcohol, drugs, or violence are not played at public events, including concerts. This ruling underscores the legal basis for the complaint and has further intensified the scrutiny surrounding the event.
National
UP Minister’s convoy overturns, 5 person injured
Five people sustained injuries when a vehicle in the convoy of Uttar Pradesh Minister and Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad overturned into a ditch near Januan village in the Khejuri Police Station area of Ballia district late last night.
Sanjay Nishad shared details of the incident, stating that the accident injured five party workers, including four women.
“I was traveling with the convoy to participate in the Constitutional Rights Yatra organized by the party on Tuesday night. Near Januan village in the Khejuri area, one of the vehicles following the convoy lost control while trying to avoid an animal and overturned into a ditch,” Nishad explained.
The injured individuals have been identified as Rakesh Nishad, Ramrati, Usha, Geeta, and Iravati Nishad.
Senior police and administrative officials quickly arrived at the scene following the incident to oversee the situation.
National
Suchir Balaji’s mother alleges Murder
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Poornima Rao, Suchir’s mother, claimed her son’s death was a “cold-blooded murder” that authorities wrongly ruled as suicide. She further disclosed that a private autopsy report conflicted with the findings of the initial police investigation.
Rao alleged that her son’s apartment had been “ransacked” and cited evidence of a struggle in the bathroom, including bloodstains that suggested he had been assaulted.
“We hired a private investigator and conducted a second autopsy to uncover the truth. The private autopsy does not confirm the cause of death stated by the police. Suchir’s apartment was ransacked, there were signs of a struggle in the bathroom, and it appears he was hit based on blood spots. This is a cold-blooded murder being misclassified as a suicide. Lobbying in San Francisco won’t deter us from seeking justice. We demand an FBI investigation,” Rao wrote on X.
Elon Musk reacted to Rao’s post, commenting, “This doesn’t seem like a suicide.”
Balaji was discovered dead in his San Francisco apartment months after accusing OpenAI of violating copyright laws during the development of ChatGPT, as reported by Fox News. Despite these claims, the San Francisco Police Department found no evidence of foul play and ruled the death a suicide.
On October 24, shortly before his death, Balaji voiced doubts about the “fair use” defense in generative artificial intelligence. “I recently participated in a NYT story about fair use and generative AI, and why I’m skeptical ‘fair use’ would be a plausible defense for a lot of generative AI products,” he wrote on X.
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