Berhampur: Berhampur constituency in Ganjam district is an important Assembly segment having elected many top leaders to the House. Notably, after Odisha became a separate province, Berhampur Assembly segment was reserved for women in 1937 elections.
D Lakshmibai, younger sister of former President VV Giri, won from this Assembly seat that year. Later, in the second elections, Lakshmibai was elected from here again on a Congress ticket and became the Deputy Speaker of the state Assembly.
Poll results of this Assembly segment is always watched for when elections are held in the state. As many as 16 Assembly elections have been held in the state in between 1951-52 to 2019 after the country achieved Independence from British rule.
However, this constituency has ever since elected just one woman as MLA to the state Assembly during these long years. After Independence, the only woman to be elected as an MLA from Berhampur segment is Mahuri Queen Ratna Manjari Devi.
She contested as an independent candidate in 1977 elections and defeated Congress candidate and former Chief Minister Binayak Acharya by a huge margin of votes. Her victory was quite surprising as Acharya was in power during the elections.
The ruling BJD government has been laying stress on representation of more women in the government and various other sectors. Moreover, women’s representation becomes all the more important now after a Bill seeking to reserve 33 per cent of seats in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies was recently passed unanimously in both the Houses of the Parliament.
The Berhampur Assembly segment was formed by taking 27 wards of Berhampur town and 10 panchayats of Kukudakhandi block in Ganjam district. Now, 36 of the 42 wards under Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) area come under the Berhampur Assembly segment.
The rest of the wards under BeMC are under Gopalpur constituency. The BJD government is giving priority to women in various sectors. With 50 per cent of the seats in panchayat and civic body elections reserved for them, several women have expressed their interest to become BJD candidates from this seat in the upcoming 2024 elections.
Many women are applying for BJD ticket from Berhampur segment. A former woman mayor of BeMC is one among the scores of applicants. Moreover, women holding various positions in the party unit are also aspiring for the party ticket from Berhampur seat.
The eagerness and assertiveness shown by the women for BJD party ticket has come at a time when the Women’s Reservation Bill has been passed in the Parliament recently. The law, however, will be implemented from 2029 elections.
BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had fielded women in five out of 13 Assembly segments in Ganjam district in the 2019 elections. They contested from Khallikote, Kabisuryana g ar, Aska, Sanakhemundi and Chikiti Assembly constituencies and four of them won the elections.
BJD’s woman candidate was trounced in 2019 by the Congress candidate in Sanakhemundi seat in the district. Chatters are abuzz that the ruling party may field women candidates in half of the total 13 seats in the district in 2024 elections.
This has resulted in hectic parleys among the women leaders and workers for a ticket from the ruling BJD in the 2024 elections.
PNN