This southern Odisha town in Ganjam district, also known as the silk city of Odisha, will witness a battle between two turncoats in the Lok Sabha elections. The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has fielded Bhrugu Baxipatra, who till last week was vice president of the BJP Odisha unit, while the BJP has named Pradeep Panigrahy, who was expelled from the BJD, as its nominee for the Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency.
Mr. Panigrahpy, a three-time MLA from the Gopalpur Assembly constituency, was once a close aide of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and even looked after the Ganjam district affairs of the BJD, before being expelled from the party.
The Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency was once a strong citadel of the Congress and even Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao had won the Berhampur Lok Seat seat in the 1996 elections.