Bhubaneswar, March 5 -- Sukinda Assembly segment, a mineral-bearing area in Jajpur, is tagged as a fort of the ruling Biju Janata Dal(BJD). Sukinda was once represented by former Finance Minister Prafulla Ghadei and is now represented by his son Preetiranjan Ghadei. The BJD has its hold on this seat for the last 25 years.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had given a tough fight to the BJD in 2019, is expected to make it tougher for the ruling party this time.

This segment was a Congress stronghold from 1980 to 1990 when Sarat Rout was elected MLA twice. However, the Congress fort started crumbling and paved the way for Prafulla Ghadei, who was elected from this seat from 1990 to 2014 and passed on the baton to his son. ...