Kendrapara (Odisha): With rivers and creeks criss-crossing the constituency, where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national vice-president Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda is locked in a triangular contest with Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate Anshuman Mohanty and Congress’s Siddharth Swarup Das, Kendrapara is facing a plethora of problems which are bound to impact the outcome of this battle.
Even though a victory in Kendrapara, widely perceived to be a non-Congress and non-BJP seat, remains a prestige issue for chief minister Naveen Patnaik given his soured relations with Panda who won the seat on a BJD ticket in 2009 and 2014 before losing in 2019 on a BJP ticket by over 1,81,000 votes, things this time are unlikely to be easy for the regional party.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
This is mainly on account of the changed situation on the ground, where an undercurrent for change is clearly visible, with growing resentment against the Patnaik government over its failure to address the drinking water crisis haunting the vast rural belt. Fishermen too are up in arms over the falling catch, with creeks becoming increasingly infested with crocodiles and the government imposing restrictions on fishing. The problem of connectivity is acute in many seaside settlements, with bridges yet to be constructed over creeks and rivers at several points.
The boat ride from Kharnasi to Batighar situated on the opposite sides of a crocodile-infested creek is perilous, to say the least. But hundreds of people including women and children are forced to undertake this journey daily as the popular demand for a bridge here is yet to be met. “A bridge at this point is an absolute necessity. People have been asking for it for decades now but there is complete apathy on the part of the government,” said Simant Maiti, a Bengali settler in Batighar.
In several villages falling under the Mahakalapada assembly segment of the constituency, an acute drinking water crisis has erupted, with water levels in the wells going down alarmingly and hand-pumps producing saline water, a result of the area’s proximity to the sea. “Sometimes we have to trek a few kilometres to fetch potable water. The situation is worsening,” grumbled 60-year-old Jagatbandhu, who had travelled to Batighar from Barkanata village looking for a solution to the problem.
Boats in Kharnasi where fishing is a way of life but people are worried about falling catch. Photo: Ashutosh Mishra
Fishing is the chief occupation for people in seaside villages, which have a sizeable population of Bengali settlers who migrated here decades ago from West Bengal and even Bangladesh and built houses in areas like Batighar, Jambu, Ramnagar and Kharnasi. But fish catch has been falling consistently for the last few decades, with the state government imposing restrictions on fishing in the sea for nearly seven months every year to protect the endangered Olive Ridley turtles. There is a year-round ban on fishing in the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary which borders most of these villages, which have seen cases of suicide by frustrated fishermen. “We have discussed the issue several times with the government but a viable solution is yet to come up. Compensation being offered to the fisherfolk for their livelihood loss because of restrictions on fishing is just not adequate,” said Narayan Haldar, a highly respected fishing community leader in Kharnasi.
There is resentment among the settlers also, on account of the alleged refusal of government officials to collect revenue tax (khajana) from them for the land on which they have been living for last several decades. “We have been living here since the 1960s. Until last year we were paying tax for our land but now they are not accepting this. We are being treated as encroachers. We are being told that new laws have been passed,” said Krushna Mandal in Batighar, looking visibly agitated. Inquiries with local officials failed to throw up an answer, but the impression one gathered was that most of these migrants had settled down on encroached land for which they had later got documents made with the help of local politicians who have been patronising them as a vote bank.
It is these people who are rooting for change, in the hope that a new government will address their problems and offer them legitimacy so that they can enjoy the same rights and privileges as others. However, a section of them still have sympathy for the ruling party as its welfare schemes, especially the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY), have benefited them immensely. “No other party has ever given us cheap rice. It can sustain us in the most difficult situations. The BSKY cards are of great help and they have raised the limit for women to Rs ten lakh,” said Bidyadhar Das, a fisherman in Kharnasi.
While BJP campaigners appear to have tried their best to convince people that Panda will be made a minister at the Centre in the event of winning this contest and hence can be of great help to them, there is still a lot of sympathy for the young BJD candidate Anshuman Mohanty, a former Congress MLA who joined the regional party on the eve of the polls. The sympathy for him is mainly on account of his late father Nalini Kant Mohanty’s good work in Rajnagar, which is a part of this Lok Sabha constituency. A founding member of the BJD, the senior Mohanty represented Rajnagar several times in the state assembly, the last time on a Congress ticket after he fell out with chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
Boats and a boat ambulance on a crocodile-infested creek. Photo: Ashutosh Mishra
Anshuman is seen as the successor to his father’s political legacy and the BJD welcomed him with open arms when he decided to make the switch. “His father is a well-known figure in the area. His own sincerity has never been in doubt. We were extremely happy when we learnt that he has joined BJD and been made the party candidate from the constituency,” said party sympathiser Akshaya Das, who is confident the BJD will emerge victorious again.
Statistics also appear to be in favour of the Naveen Patnaik-led party in Kendrapara. The seat has been a non-Congress bastion since the ’70s. While the BJP has never ever won from here, currently all the seven assembly seats falling under this Lok Sabha constituency are being held by the BJD. “Our party’s victory margin last time was over 1.80 lakh votes. We hope to better the record this time,” said Das.