When former Berhampur Mayor Siba Shankar Dash (Pintu) entered the poll arena as an Independent candidate from Berhampur Assembly constituency, it was expected that he would end up by getting 10,000-12,000 votes while denting the prospects of BJP.
However, he is getting tremendous response during his campaign, especially from women and youth voters. With age on his side, Pintu is making strong inroads into the BJD votes too.
If he keeps up the momentum and gets more traction, a strong triangular contest can’t be ruled out, and results can go either way. Siba Shankar Dash, who recently got expelled from BJP is fighting against BJD leader Dr. Ramesh Chandra Chyau Pattnaik and BJP candidate K Anil Kumar.