Orissa Congress trumps LS polls

Telegrapha(Kolkata), May 19, 2009

Bhubaneswar, May 18: Winning six Lok Sabha seats in Orissa might have brought cheer to the Congress that suffered a debacle in the simultaneous Assembly polls swept by a pro-Naveen wave.

In the Lok Sabha polls, Congress improved its tally from two to six and won Sambalpur, Bargarh, Sundergarh, Kalahandi, Nowrangpur and Balasore seats this time. While the party wrested Samabalpur, Sundergarh, Kalahandi, Nowrangpur and Balasore that it had been winning till 1996, it also won the newly carved Bargarh seat this time.

But, it suffered a jolt by losing two of its traditional forts in south Orissa — Koraput and Berhampur.

Voters of Koraput, who had stood behind Congress since Independence, rejected former chief minister and nine-time MP Giridhar Gamang, shattering his hope for a win for a record 10th term.

Ironically, Gamang, who had surprised the country by voting out Vajpayee government in 1998, was equally stunned by his defeat. “It’s incredible,” Gamang told The Telegraph while reacting to his first ever electoral debacle since he was elected to Parliament in 1972 in a by-poll.

The popular leader, who had defeated his BJD rival retired judge Papanna Mutika by a margin of 51,657 votes in 2004, was trounced by traditional rival Jayram Pangi by 96,360 votes this time (Pangi was humbled by Gamang in six parliament polls in the past).

Gamang had won the seat nine times with a break in 1999 (his wife, Hema, was elected to parliament proxying him following his appointment as Orissa chief minister). But the electorate had perhaps decided to deliver him a cryptic message — “stop promoting family politics.”

Not only Gamang, wife Hema, son Sisir and assistant K. Nagaraj Dora suffered defeats in Laxmipur, Gunupur and Jeypore assembly seats, respectively, which fall under Koraput constituency.

In 2004, the country had witnessed a feud between Gamang and wife Hema, who vied for nomination from Koraput seat. Finally, Hema was compensated with party ticket for Gunupur seat, which she had eventually won.

However, Gamang does not accept the allegation of putting family first. “In a democracy, everybody has the right to fight elections. Should they be denied because they are related to me, he asks.

Another Congress fort in south Orissa — Berhampur — was lost to BJD this time apparently due to the strong Naveen-wave.