BHUBANESWAR: The bypoll to the Umerkote Assembly constituency scheduled on November 30 has turned out to be most crucial for all three big players, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Political observers believe that the by-poll will again return the BJD nominee Subhash Gond to the assembly though with a reduced margin. The interesting thing in the by-poll is to watch which of the opposition political party, the Congress or the BJP finishes second.With a day remaining for the closure of nomination papers, more than a dozen senior BJD leaders, including four senior Cabinet ministers have descended on the constituency having a mix of tribal and Bengali settlers.The BJD as the ruling party having unmatched resources are sure of a win for its candidate, though he may not be the popular choice.Opposition political parties, Congress and BJP are also not leaving any stones unturned to give a good fight against the BJD candidate. But the main strategy of the BJD camp is that a triangular division in the Gond community votes will allow its candidate to have a smooth victory.Despite the confidence shown by the BJD leaders and workers, an upset result cannot be ruled out as there are a large number of issues against the state government.Besides, the popularity of the Naveen Patnaik Government has also not been tested after the 2009 elections. After the elections in which BJD secured 103 seats in the Assembly, a series of scams have affected the popularity.But,if the results of the past elections and faction ridden opposition political parties will be taken into account, the BJD most will most likely retain the seat, a senior Congress leader said.
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