Bhubaneswar, April 11 -- After a gap of around two years, Dhamnagar, a much-discussed and sensitive Assembly constituency in the Bhadrak district, is once again gearing up for another poll battle.

This constituency had been a fortress of Congress that emerged victorious for over six times. But the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) forced its entry into the Congress citadel and its candidate Rajendra Das won this seat in 2009. In 2014, Muktikant Mandal was elected from here.In 2019, the party repeated Das from this seat but he lost to BJP's Bishnu Sethi.

The seat witnessed a by-poll in 2022 following the demise of Sethi. While the BJP fielded the departed leader's son, Suryavansi Suraj, the BJD nominated Abanti Das and the Congress'pick was Baba Har...