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From tea seller to rickshaw driver: Odisha’s lesser-known MP, MLA aspirants
Amid a sea of crorepati candidates in the Odisha polls, there are also lesser-known candidates like tea-sellers, vegetable farmers, plumbers and so on
Sukanta Ghadei, a 26-year-old in Puri’s Brahmagiri area believes he can do a Narendra Modi in 2024 polls. A tea seller, Ghadai is fighting as an independent candidate from Brahmagiri assembly constituency, inspired by Prime Minister Modi’s journey from tea seller to the highest post of India.
“Why can’t another tea seller be elected as an MLA if one tea seller can become prime minister,” asked Ghadai who is determined to combat corruption in his area as he cycles down braving the merciless heat of May campaigning around. The youngsters are up against a bevy of wealthy candidates including Upasana Mahapatra, daughter of former Congress strongman Lulu Mahapatra and Umakanta Samantray of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). I have nothing to lose,” he said.
Amid a sea of crorepati candidates in the simultaneous election to the Odisha Assembly and Lok Sabha, beginning on Monday, there are lesser-known candidates like tea-sellers, vegetable farmers, plumbers and a lawyer, who lack the resources, but are trying to make a statement fighting the might of highly resourceful candidates from the BJD, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.
Ramesh Mahananda, who has filed his nomination as an independent from Kalahandi’s Bhawanipatna assembly constituency, reserved for tribals, drives a rented auto-rickshaw and runs a small shop to eke out a livelihood. A good samaritan, who rises to the occasion as and when needed, Mahananda said he decided to fight to address the problem of poverty and unemployment.
“After completing my BA, I did not get any job and took to driving an auto. Many youngsters from Kalahandi continue to migrate to other states for work. I feel the current crop of politicians have failed the youngsters and that is why unemployment and migration is the biggest issue facing Kalahandi,” said Mahananda, who is campaigning on a two-wheeler and is being helped by his friends and local shopkeepers.
Similarly, Purna Chandra Majhi, a smalltime vegetable farmer in Rayagada district, is fighting from for Rayagada (ST) seat on
Bahujan Samaj Party ticket. The farmer who grows various vegetables on his small landholding in Sanamatikana village under Kashipur block of Rayagada, is harping on lack of drinking water and health infrastructure. Majhi had contested the panchayat polls in 2022 on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket but could not win a zilla parishad seat. With no money to fuel his campaign, Majhi has been banking on the goodwill of local people who are arranging vehicles for him and food. “People are my biggest resources and they are donating money for my campaign,” said Majhi.
In Sundargarh Lok Sabha constituency, 43-year-old Jagabandhu Oram does not have regular source of income and often works as a daily wager and priest. But the dream to contest the election proved too strong for him as he managed to save ₹12,500 for the mandatory security deposit for filing of nomination. Oram is the only independent candidate among the eight candidates that includes BJP’s Jual Oram and BJD’s Dilip Tirkey, former captain of Indian men’s hockey team.
Oram said if elected as MP, he will ensure that not a single poor man is left out of the government benefits. “I will explore ways to help poor people get a livelihood, promote health and education,” said Oram, who is certain that he would lose his security deposit, but wants to fight.
Padia Padiami of Malkangiri district is an electrician-cum-plumber, yet he is fighting as a candidate of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha from Chitrakonda assembly constituency on the pressing issue of all-weather roads to villages, and paddy farmers not getting the MSP. A native of Chimitapalli village, Padiami said people of Chimitapalli and villages nearby persuaded him to contest for raising the issue of lack of development in their area.
Like Padiami, 29-year-old Suchitra Majhi of Kashipur is an independent candidate for Gunupur Assembly seat. An anti-mining activist on the ground, she has been resisting bauxite mining at Niyamgiri in Sijimali, Kutumali, Basangmali mountain hilltop. “I want to fight for the interests of tribals for whom Niyamgiri is nothing less than God,” she said. Medical sweeper Siba Prasad Sagadia, who on a daily wage basis, is an independent candidate from Koraput assembly seat. The 34-year-old has been fighting for the rights of street vendors and migrant brick kiln workers. “If I win, I will take up the causes of migrant labourers who are overlooked by everyone,” said Sagadia, who is campaigning seeking donations from locals.
In Cuttack city, Minati Patnaik, a 64-year-old widow who in 2021 donated her house and jewellery - worth over ₹1 crore - to a rickshaw puller, is fighting as a candidate as Samruddha Odisha candidate for Cuttack Lok Sabha constituency. Eager to reach out to a bigger audience, she decided to contest as an independent. However, when Samruddha Odisha party headed by Jatish Chandra Mohanty, a 1979-batch Odia IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, approached her, she agreed. Though pitted against heavyweights like BJP’s Bhartruhari Mahtab and BJD’s Santrupt Misra, she believes that her poll issues of migration, employment and livelihood would help her.
