Kendraparal: Struggling to meet the rising expenses of the upcoming assembly elections, a former Congress MLA in Odisha recently sold off a portion of his ancestral land to fund his daughter who is contesting as a candidate.
Debendra Sharma, who represented Aul assembly constituency in Kendrapara district from 2014 to 2019, sold off his five decimal homestead land in his native village recently.
Facing formidable challenges including financial constraints and a well-funded opposition, Sharma expressed concerns over the lack of monetary support from the Congress party, citing the freezing of party accounts by the Income Tax department.
“My daughter Dr. Debasmita Sharma (28), is contesting the polls from the constituency where both my father and I was previously elected as MLAs,” he said, highlighting the financial strain on the family due to the heavy campaign spending by rival candidates, making it challenging to meet the necessary poll expenses.
Debasmita, following in the footsteps of her father and grandfather, left her job as a government doctor to pursue a career in public service.
Sharma explained that the campaign funds provided by the party for his daughter were insufficient. “Consequently, faced with compelling circumstances, I made the difficult decision to sell a piece of our ancestral land in the village to generate additional resources for her campaign,” he said.
Despite being pitted against prominent opponents like Odisha minister Pratap Keshari Deb of BJD and BJP’s Krushna Chandra Panda, Sharma remains hopeful that voters will place their trust in his daughter.
Debasmita was unavailable for comment due to her busy campaign schedule.
PTI