Samikhsya Bureau
If one goes through the process of the election in Odisha, as may be elsewhere, one aspect appears predominant — a change in the discourse of politics.
Let’s take the examples of political careers being turned into a kind of family occupation that a legacy should go on. For instance, the words used in politics such as selflessness and serving the people sound very nice. But, if seen minutely, such words have two common features.
The most common feature is to retain hold over the political space by grooming the off-springs in politics. But that does not happen always and the quest for the business (read politics) is paramount. This is notwithstanding the choice the son or the daughter has. Politics either by choice or being forced upon is what 2019 revealed the most.
In the recent general election in Odisha, the scene is replete with such examples where fairness is set aside and exclusive promotion of the sons and daughters is the only service intended, which is surely not keeping in mind the people but their own interest. That is perpetuation of a profession through family members when the value of merit is ruthlessly ignored, and sons and daughters are pushed to politics like interns.
In some cases, it has been going on and in some cases of recent days, it has become endemic. Look at the royal family in Balangir district where a particular family has been encroaching upon the space in politics and thus has negated the principles of an egalitarian approach. And the respective leaderships bow to their choice regardless of the outcomes like win or loss. It is still difficult to know what are the reasons behind such subservience shown by top leaderships.
Veteran politician A.U. Singh Deo has not only nourished his political goals from Balangir known for cyclic poverty and backwardness but also has been able to bring in his sons into it. His son Kalikesh Singh Deo has already reaped enough political dividends as an MLA and a Lok Sabha MP.
This time, A.U. Singh Deo backed out but promoted his two sons Kalikesh Singh Deo and Arkesh Singh Deo to fight elections for the Lok Sabha and Balangir assembly seat respectively. But both his sons lost the elections and so did the BJD. Kalikesh Singh Deo, the older one in family politics, lost to his sister-in-law Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo in the Balangir Lok Sabha seat.
The list of how sons and daughters have been tossed into the fray is long. A few won while the rest had a dash with failures.
Senior Congress leader and former Odisha chief minister Hemanad Biswal tried to kill two birds in one shot. His elder daughter Sunita Biswal contested for the Sundergarh Lok Sabha seat and younger daughter Anita Biswal entered the fray as a Congress candidate for the Sundergarh assembly seat. Biswal’s hopes had a tryst with despair as both the daughters failed miserably while his own political fate is in the twilight.
Lucky were two ponzi-scam tainted BJD leaders, Pravhat Biswal and Prabhat Tripathy, who won the gamble. Biswal’s son, Sauvik Biswal and Tripathy’s son Debadatta Tripathy, both greenhorns in politics, came out winners from Cuttack Sadar and Banki assembly seats respectively.
One time a front-liner in Odisha politics, Ram Krushna Patnaik could not save his grace this time. His daughter Anita Priyadarshini who contested for the Aska Lok Sabha seat was trounced by the BJD’s Pramila Bisoi by a huge margin.
Former cabinet minister in BJD government Bijayshree Routray, who in fact had opted not to contest had been able to push his son, Bishnudatta Routray, into the political arena. The son won the Basudebapur assembly seat.
Prominent among the sobbing fathers were Bhakta Charan Das who suffered a drubbing in Kalahandi Lok Sabha seat and his remnant hope for some political relevance has also diminished with the defeat of his son Samaresh Das in Bhawanipatna assembly seat.
Similarly, it was a double whammy for Prithviraj Harichandan, son of veteran BJP leader Biswabhusan Harichandan. Prithiviraj suffered a defeat in Chilika assembly seat. In 2014, he had lost his deposit while contesting from an assembly seat in Bhubaneswar.
However, the most celebrated among the losers was the president of the Pradesh Congress Committee, Niranjan Patnaik. Patnaik had contested from two assembly seats and his son Divyajyoti Patnaik was given the party ticket to contest the Balasore Lok Sabha seat. Both the father and son not only lost but the hope for revival of Niranjan Patnaik’s political career seems difficult.
