E-Paper
2 candidates of Odisha’s panchayat and civic elections fulfil poll promises
The newly-elected sarpanch said he could win the polls as the villagers trusted his promise of getting the food grains to their villages.
Two candidates in the just-concluded panchayat and municipal polls of Odisha have started fulfilling their poll promises, in a departure from the usual norm of politicos going back on their word.
After winning the sarpanch election in February this year, Banamali Naik, sarpanch of Dhumabhata gram panchayat under Bolangir’s Belapada block started delivering rice and wheat at doorstep of people. Last month, people of the panchayat were surprised when they found tractors laden with rice and wheat arriving in their area and Naik telling people to come out of their homes and collect their quota of food grains. It was a welcome change for people of the panchayat who had to travel to the panchayat office situated 5 km away wasting the entire day in queue to collect the government allotment.
Jaykishan Rana, a villager of Dhumabhata, said he was pleasantly surprised when the tractor arrived. “Though the sarpanch had promised to get the PDS food grains at our doorsteps we were sceptical. Earlier, we had to waste almost half a day just to collect our food grains. It is good to see that he has not forgotten his promise,” said Rana.
The newly-elected sarpanch said he could win the polls as the villagers trusted his promise of getting the food grains to their villages. “I had promised them to get their ration right into the villages. They trusted me and helped me win the election. They have done their duty by voting and now it is my turn to keep my promise,” said Naik. “I am going to fulfil their needs for the next five years.”
In Malkangiri district however, Congress candidate G. Srinivas Rao, who lost the election for the post of chairman of Malkangiri Municipality has started fulfilling his promise of sinking tubewells and borewells in the area. Rao, popularly known as ‘Chiti Bhai’, last month dug a borewell at Damnagata in ward no.9 of Malkangiri municipality hardly at a distance of 100 metres from the District Collector’s residence. Rao had lost to a BJD candidate by a margin of 1200 votes.
“During my campaign, I had felt the problems faced by the inhabitants of Damnagata in Ward no. 9 for drinking water. The 15 families in the area had to walk for more than a kilometre to collect water. Though they had raised the issue of drinking water with the district administration as well as the local municipality, no one came to their rescue. As a social worker, I had decided that I would stand by my voters even if I lose the polls,” said Rao.
During his campaign, Rao had promised to sink 10 tube wells in different localities of the municipality. “I will be visiting door to door in all the 19 wards of the municipality and prepare a list of the problems faced by them and place them at the municipality office. I will lead the agitation if the problems are not resolved soon,” said Rao.
