Purushottam Patra, Gariaband. In the initial trends, Congress is leading in Bindranavgarh and Rajim, both the assembly seats of Gariaband district. Rajim has been a stronghold of Congress, but Bindranavagarh has been a stronghold of BJP, where Congress is leading. BJP has canceled the ticket of its sitting MLA and made Govardhan Manjhi its candidate from here.
Bindranavagarh Assembly
Congress – Janak Dhruv 14998 BJP – Govardhan Manjhi 10586 Round 03 – Congress leading by 4412 votes
Rajim Assembly
Congress – Amitesh Shukla 15019 BJP – Rohit Sahu 11129 Round 03 – Congress ahead by 3890 votes
Congress has made Janak Ram Dhruv its candidate for Bindranavagarh assembly seat. Janak Ram Dhruv came into politics in 2013 by resigning from the post of Sports Officer, Congress party replaced him with Omkar Shah. Since he was new to the field and politics, BJP candidate Govardhan Manjhi registered a big victory and defeated him by a record 30536 votes. In the last 10 years, Janak has made good inroads among the people in the area.
First election of Legislative Assembly in 1962
The first elections to the Legislative Assembly were held in 1962. Khamsingh Komarra, a resident of Dendupdar, became the first elected MLA from the Prajatantrik Socialist Party. Komrra became MLA from Jan Sangh for the second time in 1967 by defeating Congress candidate Shyamakumari. For the third time in 1972, Komra was in the fray but this time he had to face defeat from Parvati Kumari Shah, an independent candidate from Chhura Gharana. In 1977, Balram Pujari was the Jana Sangh candidate from Mungapadar, who defeated Parvati Shah, who had become the Congress candidate. . BJP had come into existence in the 1980 elections. Made Balram Pujari of Moonagapadar his candidate. This year Congress made Ishwar Singh Patel of Amalipadar its candidate. But BJP won.
In the 1985 elections, Congress candidate Ishwar Singh Patel was elected MLA. In 1990, Congress had fielded Maheshwar Singh Komrra of Mungjhar against Balram Pujari, this time again Pujari with Padar was elected MLA. Padar was not present in the elections of 1993 and 1998, but after that Padar again had a claim. In the 2003 elections, BJP had fielded Govardhan Manjhi of Gohrapadar as its candidate, but he lost to Omkar Shah of Congress, who had been MLA in 1993. Damrudhar Pujari of Moonagapadar in 2008, Govardhan Manjhi of Gohra Padar in 2013, and Damrudhar Pujari again in 2018 perpetuated the myth of Padar by becoming MLA.
BJP calls Bindranwagarh an impregnable fort.
There is also an authentic myth of BJP’s impenetrable stronghold associated with this seat. Statistics show that in the 13 elections held so far, Congress has been able to form its MLA only 3 times. Political analyst and senior advocate Sushil Kumar Behera says that BJP’s rebels are the reason for Congress’s victory. He told that in 1985, BJP’s dummy candidate Dhanashay Nagesh rebelled, Congress’s Ishwar Singh Patel won. In 1993, BJP’s Charan Singh Manjhi lost by just 1331 votes and in 2003, Govardhan Manjhi lost by just 8 thousand votes due to rebels, both times Kumar Omkar Shah from Congress was elected MLA. BJP has kept this area in A category among its 4 seats.
Girshul’s Thakur Gaukaran Singh first nominated MLA
After the legislature came into existence after independence, Gokaran Singh Thakur of Girshul was nominated as the first MLA for Bindranwagarh in 1952, at that time Rajim was also under him. In 1957, it was divided into two constituencies, Pandit Shyam Charan Shukla was nominated from the general seat of Rajim and Shyama Kumari was nominated by the Congress for the reserved seat of Bindranavagarh ST.