Berhampur: The Berhampur Assembly constituency is a politically significant one among the 13 in Ganjam district as per analysts. The constituency comprises 36 of the 42 wards under the Berhampur Municipal Corporation.
However, candidates winning the Berhampur seat have always got a raw deal in the race for the ministerial chair. This has happened more so during the tenure of the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government.
It should also be stated here that none of the BJD candidates who won in the 2019 Assembly elections from Ganjam district got ministerial berths. Among those were BJD MLAs from Chhatrapur, Khallikote, Kabisuryanagar, Aska, Sorada and also this constituency. Now with the Assembly elections looming large speculation is rife as to who will be re-nominated and who won’t be.
The Berhampur Assembly constituency has witnessed seven elections from 1990 to 2019. The BJD has been winning this seat since 2000 till date. BJD’s Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik won the seat four times in succession from 2000 to 2014. Then in 2019, BJD’s Bikram Kumar Panda emerged victorious.
However, despite holding supremacy, BJD-winning candidates have never been given ministerial berths in the state Cabinet. This has raised questions in the minds of political analysts.
Late Lingaraj Panigrahi, former Chief Justice of Orissa High Court, was elected as an MLA in the 1957 elections during Congress rule in the state. He was appointed as a Cabinet Minister in Housing, Education and other departments.
Similarly, Krushna Charan Patnaik who won on a Congress ticket in 1980 from Berhampur was appointed as a minister for two years during the first term of the Janaki Ballav Patnaik-led government.
The last time Congress won in the Berhampur Assembly constituency was in 1985 when Youth Congress leader Shiba Shankar Sahani emerged victorious. Since then the fortunes of Congress has only gone downhill in the Berhampur seat.
Retired police officer Binayak Mohapatra won on a Janata Dal ticket from this seat and also became a minister in the government headed by Biju Patnaik. That was probably the last time that a Berhampur lawmaker was appointed minister.
The most unlucky winner from this constituency must be Ramesh Chandra. Despite winning four successive times on a BJD ticket, he was never made a minister. To add to his miseries, his one-time political rival Panda was nominated on a BJD ticket from the Berhampur constituency. Panda won, but even he was not given a ministerial berth.
It should be stated here that former Kodala MLA Ramakrushna Patnaik was made a minister twice – once during Biju Patnaik’s tenure as Chief Minister and then once in the Naveen-led government. However, he fell out of BJD’s favour.
Similarly, Digapahandi MLA Surya Narayan Patra got ministerial berths four times and was also appointed Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly after BJD emerged victorious in the 2019 elections.
Currently, Bhanjanagar MLA Bikarm Keshari Arukh is the Speaker of state Assembly. Chikiti MLA Usha Devi has got a Cabinet berth a number of times and is now the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development department.
Many have been left wondering as to why Berhampur lawmakers are being deprived of a ministerial berth for quite a substantial period of time when others from the same district have made it big.
PNN