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In ore-rich Odisha district, politician distributes paddy seeds to buy voters loyalty
With the agricultural cooperative societies in the region becoming defunct due to government neglect, Mahakud seems to have stepped in as some sort of farming Robinhood distributing high-yielding seeds to the farmers and earning their trust.
He is not in the electoral fray, but the seeds of trust he has sown in ore-rich Keonjhar district may help him reap huge harvest.
While most politicians distribute lucre and liquor to lure the electorate, Sanatan Mahakud, the outgoing MLA from the mines-rich Champua belt of Keonjhar district, has been distributing paddy seeds, potato seeds, mustard seeds and sunflower seeds to hundreds of tribal and non-tribal farmers ahead of harvest season.
As the Keonjhar district goes to polls on April 23, poor farmers of Keonjhar in the district see 61-year-old mines transporter-turned-politician with hundreds of crores of wealth as do-gooder who comes to their rescue. Though elected to the Odisha Assembly for the first time in 2014, Mahakud chose not to contest election this year owing to his deteriorating health, but declared his support for Biju Janata Dal candidates for Keonjhar Lok Sabha constituency and Champua assembly segment.
With the agricultural cooperative societies in the region becoming defunct due to government neglect, Mahakud seems to have stepped in as some sort of farming Robinhood distributing high-yielding seeds to the farmers and earning their trust.
In Patakhali village of Maoist-affected Telkoi block of Keonjhar, woman farmer Padmabati Mahanta talks glowingly about Mahakud while drying out the harvested paddy in front of her tile-roofed home. Like others in the village, Mahanta calls the seeds as Sana bihana(Sana Mahakud paddy seeds). “The harvest from the paddy seeds that Mahakud’s people gave us is much higher than the one we sowed earlier. Last year, I received 5 kg paddy seeds and 5 kg of potato seeds from Mahakud’s people. Though the rice is a little slimy after cooking, the taste is good,” said Mahanta, a BPL farmer.
Her neighbour Rita Mahanta, who has been beneficiary of Mahakud’s agricultural largesse, is also effusive in her praise. “We have got the paddy seeds and potato seeds for the second time in last 2 years. Poor farmers like us find it difficult to get seeds. If Mahakud is giving it free, I should be grateful,” said the 30-something housewife.
Gond tribal Prahallad Nayak of Patakhali village said, he reaped higher harvest of paddy when he sowed the Sana bihaana over his 3 acre land. “Earlier I used to harvest about 2 quintals of paddy from my land. But since last 2 years, it is 3 quintals. But the rice tastes a little bitter,” said Nayak.
In neighbouring Balabhadrapur grampanchayat, Mahakud’s people had given 8 kg of potato seeds and 5 kg of mustard seeds to young farmer Arun Dalei. Dalei says he harvested over a quintal of potato. His friend Bidyadhar Mahanta also admitted to have received 20 kg of paddy seed.
Many of the beneficiaries admitted they have supported Mahakud’s candidates in panchayat polls. “He has been doing something for us. So what’s the harm in listening to him,” said a tribal farmer in Telkoi block.
The reclusive Mahakud did not take any calls and efforts to get response from his close followers proved to be futile. But his rivals say Mahakud can afford the largesse. “In his election affidavit of 2009, his asset was ₹3 crore while it grew to ₹51 crore in 2014. He made lot of money out of ore transportation and is using it retain his clout in Keonjhar,” said Satyabrata Panda, local BJP leader. In January 2018, the State government froze five of his bank accounts containing a total sum of ₹165 crore after he was found to be creating law and order problems.
Though Mahakud may be the first Odisha politician to be distributing seeds to needy farmers, but this is not the first time he has been showering largesse. Before he was elected as MLA in 2014, locals say Mahakud used to give monthly pension of ₹1000-1500 to hundreds of families. After his election in 2014 assembly poll from Champua constituency, Mahakud continued to distribute anywhere between ₹1,000 to ₹2,000 to hundreds of families in his constituency.
Koenjhar district collector Ashish Thakre said he has not heard of anyone distributing paddy seeds. “We would inquire into it,” he said. However another senior official of the district on condition of anonymity said Mahakud has been trying to maintain his Robinhood image though the seeds distributed was of lower quality.
“This is his old modus operandi. He is trying to stay relevant through these tactics. People should not trust the seeds given by him as they may be of poor quality,” said the official.
