Kalahandi: Congress' Tribal Leader Draupadi Majhi Faces Royalty And Caste Dominance (image-Facebook/Amar Bhawanipatna)The Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency will witness a fight between unequals with the BJP’s royal Malvika Keshari Deo, BJD’s Lambodar Nial, and Congress’ tribal leader Draupadi Majhi.
With a history of drought and starvation in the 1980s, the Kalahandi constituency has come a long way, with several political parties trying to take credit for its development. The BJD leader Sujeet Kumar attributed all credit to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for changing Kalahandi by building a medical college, university, and more.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s sitting MP, Basant Kumar Panda, claimed that important projects, including national highways, teleconnection, and railway projects, were completed during his tenure. Members of Malvika Keshari Deo’s royal family have been elected nine times in the Lok Sabha since 1952. Although a novice, she puts her faith in the people to help her retain her family seat.
With the BJP playing its royal card and the BJD using the caste card by fielding Nial, who is from the Yadav community, Congress has fielded tribal leader Draupadi Majhi, also a grassroots worker who contested panchayat and Zila Parishad elections and won.
Majhi claimed that the tribal community of the region has a close bond with the Gandhi family and will choose the Congress over the others. She accused the BJP and the BJD of betraying the people in the name of development, adding that the Congress alone fought for the rights of minority communities such as the tribals, Dalits, and the poor.
Majhi faces formidable opponents with the Malvika Keshari Deo and her political background rooted in the history of Kalahandi, and Nial is a member of the OBC community, which forms a significant population in the Lok Sabha constituency.
The Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency comprises seven Vidhan Sabhas, such as Nuapada, Khariar, Lanjigarh (SC), Junagarh, Dharmagarh, Narla, and Bhawanipatna (SC). As per the 2011 census, there is a significant ST population (30.02 percent), SC population (16.86 percent), and Muslim population (1.7 percent).