By D.N. Singh
Whenever there is a debate over political legacy, the question of dynasty politics gets a bold mention and that too on the dynasty politics witnessed through few decades perpetuated by Nehru clan.
True, yet to say that family politics is only limited to one family in India would be wrong. Let us jog our memory and look back at the politics in Odisha over few decades. It more or less remains within the fiefdom of few families and the trend never ceases.
Not to distant from the unpleasant fact that the trend stems from the erstwhile royal family of Balangir where both the BJD and BJP have tried to replenish the political vacuum by en-cashing family name. Former king of Balangir, Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo, was in politics as a member of Swatantra Party and became the chief minister of Odisha.
After that there was no looking back. His son Raja Raj Singh Deo became a member of Parliament who subsequently handed over the baton to his off-springs who still keep milking politics enjoying the political patronage of power-that-be as vote catchers. The most prominent torch bearers are Anaga Uday Singh Deo, of BJD, who never stopped short of carrying on the trend till date.
AU’s son Kalikesh Singh Deo, a sitting MP from Balangir is in the fray this time too for the same Lok Sabha seat and his younger brother Arkesh Singh Deo has also enjoyed the goodwill of the BJD chief to debut as a contestant for Balangir assembly seat.
AU’s nephew K.V Singh Deo (BJP) is already a known name in Odisha politics. He inherited his political legacy from his father Raja Raj. KV, while pushing his political cart as MLA from Patnagarh, has been able to make a place for his wife, Sangeeta Singh Deo. Sangeeta has been there in politics for long and had won the Balangir Lok Sabha seat earlier and is a candidate this time for the same constituency and is pitted against her brother-in-law, Kalikesh.
The other place where dynasty played roles is Kalahandi, where late P.K. Deo, a die-hard and veteran BJP leader from the days of L.K. Advani, was elected from Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency nearly four times. Later his son B.K. Deo entered politics. Then BK’s son, Arka Keshari Deo, too got into his father’s shoes to make a career in politics. BK’s elder brother Udit Narayan Deo, presumably a reluctant politician, was also elected to the Lok Sabha on a BJP ticket.
It would be unfair to bracket the people from the erstwhile ruling families but now family politics has become endemic.
Now is a time when the politicians consider the voters as society’s underclass. They think as if these millions are fools from a colonial era who take the present politics with a mix of fear and loathing. Yet the politicians know well when to make hey.
From the Congress party, the practice to forward family politics is too recent to miss. Former chief minister and veteran Congress leader Hemananda Biswal, perhaps in the twilight of his political innings, has been able to accommodate his two daughters in politics before he hangs the gloves. His elder daughter Sunita Biswal this time got a ticket from the BJD for the Sundargarh Lok Sabha seat while the younger daughter Anita Biswal has pitched for the Sundargarh assembly seat on a Congress ticket.
Kalahandi’s political face for long, Bhakta Charan Das of Congress, who had remained an MP from there and fighting afresh, has seen his son Sagar Charan Das to get a ticket for the Bhawanipatna assembly seat. Similarly, the grand old man in Odisha Congress, Narasingha Mishra, who is the present leader of opposition, has not given up and is fighting for the Balangir assembly seat and also pitchforked his son Samaresh Mishra to become the party’s candidate for the Balangir Lok Sabha seat to taking on the strong duo Kalikseh and Sangeeta.
Former BJD veteran Ramkrushna Patnaik, now in the BJP, has managed to get his daughter Anita Priyadarshini Patnaik to try her luck for the Aska Lok Sabha as a BJP candidate.
Not to lag far behind, the Odisha Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik, who initially was averse to the concept of handing over baton in politics, is deeply mired in the blot of family politics also. His younger brother Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, known for shifting loyalties, is now in the BJD as a Rajya Sabha MP. Niranjan Patnaik, who always showcased a visceral feeling for clean politics, has never been able to protect it from constant encroachments by family pressure. Niranjan’s son Navajyoti Patnaik is making his debut as a Congress candidate for an assembly seat from Balasore district.
To read through the graphs of our politicians can really enrich our knowledge and inner understanding of hereditary politics that transforms itself into a narrative that invites polemics only.
