Sambalpur, May 13 -- The electoral contest in Sambalpur is not just a fight to win a Lok Sabha seat and seven assembly constituencies that are part of it. It is emblematic of the larger battle for power in Odisha, playing out as a fight between two formidable opponents and the scramble to change the narrative and sentiment on the ground.
The elections to choose a parliamentary lawmaker from Sambalpur and legislators from the seven assembly segments will be held on May 25.
Sambalpur, on the banks of the Mahanadi river in western Odisha, is a six-hour journey from Bhubaneswar. The political churn taking place in the capital is mirrored on the ground in Sambalpur, which draws its name from a local deity, goddess Samleswari.
"People in this ...