It's commoner vs royals in Bolangir LS constituency

The soaring mercury levels in Odisha have failed to take the heat out of last- minute campaigns in Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency, where a greenhorn is locking horns with two princely state candidates in a pitched battle.

Notwithstanding the grueling heat, the candidates, along with their supporters and family members, have hit the road in their last-ditch attempt to woo the voters.

While the ruling BJD in the state has re-nominated sitting MP Kalikesh Singhdeo from the seat, the BJP has fielded three-time MP Sangeeta Singhdeo, wife of veteran saffron leader K V Singhdeo.

The Congress has nominated newbie Samrendra Mishra, son of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Narasingha Mishra, to take on the heavyweights.

Since 1998, the seat has been retained by the members of the royal family - either by Sangeeta Singhdeo or by her brother-in-law Kalikesh Singhdeo.

Sangeeta, as a BJP candidate, was elected to Lok Sabha from Bolangir in 1998, 1999 and 2004.

Kalikesh, on the other hand, has been holding the seat since 2009. He defeated Sangeeta by 1,04,299 votes in 2014 to bag the seat for the second consecutive term.

Sangeeta, who was the common candidate of the BJD-BJP alliance for three consecutive terms, lost the seat to Kalikesh after the coalition split.

Mishra, however, believes that he will put an end to the "dynastic rule" in Bolangir this time.

"This is a fight between a raja (king), a rani (queen) and a common man. I, being a common man, will certainly win because people no longer support dynastic politics."