30 November 2011

Umerkote assembly bypoll concludes peacefully.

Nabarangpur:
Defying the poll boycott call given by Maoists, around 70.99  per cent voters exercised their franchise in the Umerkote assembly segment in Nabarangpur district, where the by-poll was held on Wednesday.
“The election was by and large peaceful. No untoward incident was reported anywhere in the constituency while the voters were seen to make long-queues to cast their vote,” said a senior government officer. The counting of vote will take place on December 4.

 “The polling was very peaceful and there was no untoward incident reported during polling,” said deputy inspector general of police (Sunabeda) Soumendra Priyadarshi.
The by-election was necessary in the constituency, as sitting BJD MLA Jagabandhu Majhi was gunned down by unidentified miscreants on September 24 at Gona village under Raighar police station.
As many as 165,133  voters of the constituency, consisting of 24 GPs in Raighar block, eight GPs in Umerkote block and Umerkote NAC were to elect the new MLA of the constituency.
Three candidates were in the fray for this constituency- Dharmu Gond (BJP), Jatindranath Gond (Congress) and Subash Gond (BJD).

Security was tightened with deployment of Central security forces in Maoist-hit assembly constituency in the wake of the call given by the ultras to boycott the election.

At least three companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), six units of Special Operation Group (SOG), 11 platoons of Orissa State Armed Police (OSAP) were deployed for poll duty besides hundreds of police officers, constables and home guards.

The Orissa-Chhattisgarh border was sealed to prevent the entry of miscreants from the neighbouring state.
Official sources said as many as 750 polling personnel were deployed for poll duty. Out of the total 162 booths in the constituency, 67 booths were identified as hyper-sensitive while remaining 70 booths are considered to be sensitive.

Though the poll result would not impact the political parties, they have taken the by-poll as a challenge.Apart from several ministers of the ruling BJD, senior Congress and BJP leaders including BJP Chief Minister Raman Singh campaigned for their respective candidates.

24 November 2011

Now it’s the blame game over Maoist threat

The Pioneer, Bhubaneswar. WEDNESDAY, 23 NOVEMBER
Even as the campaigning for the November 30 bypoll for the Umarkote Assembly constituency is approaching its climax with the contending parties going all-out to woo the electorate, pumping in money and manpower to bolster their prospects and villagers of this Maoist-affected zone responding more eagerly to the campaigns, not caring a fig for the ‘Maoist threat’, the ‘Maoist threat’ propaganda has ushered in a blame game overriding the campaigns.
On November 14, the Maoists pasted posters and banners in the villages under Raighar block, warning the voters to refrain from voting for the BJD candidate. The posters written in Odia language accused ex-MLA Jagabandhu Majhi of having indulged in anti-people activities. They also warned BJD leaders against campaigning in the Raighar area, threatening them of dire consequences.
Faced with threat from the ultras, BJD candidate for the ensuing bypoll Subhas Gond moved the Election Commission on November 16, seeking security. The Commission responded by asking the police to provide adequate security to all three candidates.
As the situation is quite normal, BJD raised suspicion over the genuineness of the posters, stating that the threat may have been the handy work of some political party intended to terrorise the people against the ruling party ahead of the election. BJD’s Nabarangpur district president Jayadev Parida echoed similarly and said some people wanted to disrupt the election campaign of his party in the area.
Senior BJD leader and MP Pyarimahan Mahapatra alleged that the BJP and the Congress are playing cheap politics by terrorising the voters in the name of Maoists in different areas of Raighar and Umarkote blocks. He further said Majhi was not killed by Maoist; he was the victim of conspiracy hatched by some of his opponents.
On the other hand, the BJP made counter allegations that the ‘Maoist threat’ is nothing but a ploy by the ruling party to restrict movement of the Opposition in the area so that they can easily influence the voters under police protection.
During the 2009 elections, Nabarangpur district including Umarkote was a Maoist-free zone. But Maoists activities in Raighar block bordering Chhattisgarh registered increase after the general elections.
The Umarkote Assembly segment has 1, 65, 133 voters. It consists of Raighar block (1, 04 496) and Umarkote block (30, 266), Umerkote NAC (21, 371). These include as many as 24, 412 Bengali voters and 60, 000 Gond voters. Sources said nine out of 24 panchayats of Raighar block bordering Chhattisgarh are considered a hotbed of the rebels. Areas like Haldia, Gona, Timanpur, Naktichanla, Kudai and Mundibeda are some of the worst Maoist-hit areas in the State. The Mainpur Divisonal Committee of the extremists is operating in these places.
Though BJD’s posters and banners are conspicuous by their absence in the Raighar block, stage is set for
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s proposed visit on November 25. The Chief Minister will address two public meetings, one at Umarkote and the other at Raighar on the same day.
The BJP is trying to ensure that the Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh (Raman Singh) and Jharkhand (Arjun Munda) make trips to the battle zone within a week while the Congress party is depending on few Central leaders to lead them in the fight.
All political parties have fielded candidates from the Gond tribe. While the Congress and the BJD candidates are set from Raighar, the BJP has selected its candidate from Umerkote NAC. The Gond vote is waiting for a divide.
Political observers opine that the main battle will be between the BJP and the BJD. If Subash gains sympathy votes, he will win the elections by a huge margin. If people will vote for a better candidate, Dharmu Gond will emerge as the winner. The Congress may finish third yet again. But Raighar being the biggest area with 24
GPs and the highest number of voters, all parties have now preferred to concentrate in Raighar, trying to woo the voters door to door despite the sway of Maoists in the area.

19 November 2011

Umerkote bypoll campaigning In full swing.

BJP and congress terrorizing voters in the name of the Maoist: Pyarimahan Mahapatro
By: Monohar Mohanty & Basant Rath 
Nabarangpur:
Blame game and local issues dominate the campaigning of both BJD,BJP and congress for the bypoll in Umerkote constituency. 
Senior BJD leader and MP Pyarmahan Mahapatro alleged the BJP and Congress parties are playing a cheap politic by terrorizing the voters in the name of the Maoist. Today speaking in a BJD party workers meet held here at Dharmasal he said his party would win the Umerkote assembly by-election with a suitable  margin, the opposition parties are also well known about his party’s sure victory  as a result of which they are trying to terrorize  the voters and his party workers  by affixing posters in the name of Maoist in different areas of Raighar and Umerkote block. He further said the slain MLA Jagabandhu Majhi was not killed by the Maoist, he was the victim of conspiracy hatched by some of his opponents. His party has done lot of works for the betterment of tribals, number of programs has been lunched in the KBK district by his government specially for the downtrodden tribals, he added. Mahapatro said he has visited more than twenty villages of Raighar and Umerkote Block and the villagers  of these village are more eagerly responding to BJD without caring the Maoist threat spread by the opposition parties. He assured that his party would do more developmental works  for Umerkote constituency after retaining the seat once again. 

Ruling party Revenue Minister Surya Narayan Patro  reached Umerkote on Wednesday and joined with  IT Minister Ramesh Majhi, Jeypore MLA Rabi Naryan Nanda , Nabarangpur MLA Manohar Randhari and Muna Khan  who were camping in Umerkote for campaigning since 12th  November.  On Thursday senior BJD leader MP Pyarimohan Mohapatro, along with Jayadeb MLS Arabindo Dhali, reached Umerkote and visited several villages of Umerkote and Raighar block for campaigning, later  Ministers Dabi Prasad Mishra, Pratap Jena, Pradeep Moharathi, Moheswar Mohanty, Sarada Nayak, along with  BYJD state president, Sanjayadas Berhma, MP, Sashi bhusana Behera, MLAs, Gopalpur MLA, Pradip Panigrahi, Kendujhar MLA, Subarna Nayak, Korei MLA, Pretiranjan Ghodei, Angul MLA, Ranajikant Singh, Kamakhyanagar MLA, Prafulla Mallik, Cuttack MLA, Pravatranjan Biswal, campaigning  in hundreds of villages of Raighar and Umerkote blocks.

On the other hand from BJP top leaders like State President Jual Uram, General Secretary, Golak Mohapatro, former minister Surama Padhy, Former MP, Parshuram Majhi,  along with neighboring Chhattisghar state ministers and  MPs were campaigning for their candidate Dharmu Gand. Among the team Kankar MP Sahai Patai, Keskal MLA, Sebakram Netam, Ministers Lata Ushani, Kedar Kashyap,  conducting party meeting at the several villages.
 The congress leaders like PCC President Niranjan Patnaik, AICC youth Secretary Mirga Ersa Beg have visited Umerkote on 15th November for campaigning.  The local MP Pradeep Majhi, Nabarangpur congees president Narayan Patro,Muna Tripathy, Tapan Debnath, Rayagada Ex-MLA Ram Chandra Ulka, Jeypore Ex-MLA Jagaranath Patnaik, Nimai Sarkar, PCC secretary Romu Patro are seen  campaigning for congress candidate Jitendranath Gond. 

16 November 2011

UMERKOTE ASSEMBLY POLL.


By: BASANT RATH, Editor-in-Chief.
Published in The Pioneer/The statesman/orissabarta/orissadiary. Bhubaneswar, Dated: 15 Nov. 2011

Poised for BJD-BJP-Cong triangular contest
The by-election will be a test for Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's popularity in the tribal heartland with the State Government launching a series of welfare programmes for the STs. 
The by-elections for the Umerkote Assembly seat would be a three-cornered contest among the major political parties, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the BJP and the Congress. After the scrutiny of nomination papers on Monday, out of the six candidates only three are left in the fray for the by-poll on November 30. Among the six candidates, two nominations of Dhanuram Gond (Independent) and Buti Bhatra belonging of of Kaling National Front were rejected, while Sunadhar Paklu, candidate of the Republican Party of India withdraw his papers.
The by-election will be a test for Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s popularity in the tribal heartland with the State Government launching a series of welfare programmes for the STs. The BJD has deployed Ministers Surjya Narayan Patro, Ramesh Majhi and Bikram Keshari Arukh, Koraput MP Jayaram Pangi, MLAs Rabi Narayan Nanda and Arabinda Dhali for campaigning.
Besides, Nabarangpur Municipal Chairman Prahalad Tripathy, Umerkote NAC Chairman Jhadeswar Mohanty and district BJD president Jayadev Parida are among the leading campaigners for party nominee Subash Gond’s victory. BJD sources claimed that Chief Minister Patnaik would also come for campaigning so that different factions in the party’s district unit would be united.
The Congress is also not far behind. Senior leader Narasingha Mishra, Nabarangpur MP Pradeep Majhi and MLAs Bhujabal Majhi and Ramachandra Kadam are camping in the area. Besides, former MLAs Sadan Naik and Tara Prasad Bahinipati are also campaigning for the party’s candidate Jitendra Gond.
While the BJD has fielded a close associate of the slain MLA Jagabandhu Majhi hoping to win the election on a sympathy wave as Majhi was a bachelor without any political heir, the Congress is expecting to win the seat by making the deteriorating law and order situation in the Assembly segment its prime election agenda.
On the other hand, BJP candidate Dharmu Gond, who was Umerkote’s MLA in 2004 and had occupied second position in the last election, is quite optimistic of victory this time.  Senior BJP leaders, including State president Jual Oram, vice-president Ashok Sahu and former MP Parshuram Majhi are aggressively campaigning for the party candidate.
The Umerkote Assembly segment, which has around 1,64,000 voters, consists of Raighar and Umerkote blocks and the Umerkote NAC. Nine out of 24 panchayats of Raighar block bordering Chhattisgarh are considered the Maoist hotbed. Areas like Haldia, Gona, Timanpur, Naktichanla, Kudai and Mundibeda are some of the worst Maoist-hit areas in the State. The Mainpur Divisional Committee of the extremists is operating in these places.
Political observers believe that the bypoll will again return the BJD nominee to the Assembly though with a reduced margin. The interesting thing in the bypoll is to watch which of the Opposition political parties, the Congress and the BJP, finishes second.
It is vibrant that the main battle will be between the BJP and the BJD. If Subash Gond gains sympathy votes, he will win the elections by a huge margin. If people vote for a better candidate, Dharmu Gond will emerge as the winner. The Congress may finish third yet again, observers feel.

04 November 2011

Annual tribal fest MONDEI kicks off in Nabarangpur.

Nabarangpur
The inaugural function of Mondei organized with much fanfare.A congregation of local dance troupes kicked off the five day mega cultural festival of the district ‘Mondei – 2011’ in Nabarangpur on Tuesday with the traditional march from Sadashiva Tripathy, park to Mondei ground.
Hon’ble Minister tourism Prafulla Samal, along with Hon’ble Minister of Information Technology Ramesh Chandra Majhi, local MLAs Manohar Randhari, Bhujabala Majhi, Chairperson of Nabarangpur Municipality Prahallad Tripathy, District Collector Sibabrata Dash, at the temple before the colourful carnival procession took on Mahatma Gandhi Marg. Besides the traditional folk dance troupes, hundreds of townsmen along with the block level took part in the procession.
The procession saw tribal villagers with folk culture, a number of tribal musical parties and various tribal fancy shows performed along the way. The Mondei carnival reached the Mondei Rangamanch in the evening. The inauguration function was held at night. The festival was highly successful in showcasing unique cultural and traditional heritage of the district and its people; in identifying hidden talents in various fields; contributing to revamping the old traditions and bringing recognition to those; and above all in recasting socio-cultural integrity and amalgamation. At the inaugural function held at the Mondei ground,

Chief guest Mr.Samal, said that With a special emphasis on the district the tribal dances from the district will given chance to perform their dances at Rabindra Mandap. All steps will be taken to develop tourist places of the district. He further intimated to take advantage of the artist pension provision and apply more persons from the district.
Speaking to the occasion IT, Minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi, expressing his joyous feeling over the entire festival stated that Mondei has been able to showcase the culture and heritage of the district and has been able to bring out many hidden talents to light of the day. He maintained that through the occasion there has been exchange of good feelings among the States and the occasion has also provided platform for many artists to showcase their talents. Emotionally, he also stated that in the land of lord Jagannath and Late Biju Patnaik Nabarangpur district has been able to achieve milestones and is in the path of prosperity.
Among others Local MP,Pradeep Majhi, MLA Nabarangpur, Monahar Randhari, MLA Dabugam, Bhujabala Majhi, Zillaparisad President, Bhagirathi Nayak, Vice-chairperson, Mrs.Manjula Majhi, District Collector, Sibabrata Dash,Film development corporation chairman, Muna Khan, Chairman of Municipality, Prahalad Tripathy, Chairman of NAC, Jhadeswar Mohanty, spoke on the occasion.
Besides the traditional folk dance troupes hundreds of block and townsmen took part in the procession. The Procession saw tribal villagers folk dances a number of tribal musical parties and various tribal fancy shows performed along the way. The mondei carnival reached at the Mondei Rangamancha in the evening.
Explore Nabarangpur” published by NGPURNEWS was inaugurated by the chief guest and guests at the function. Troupes from Uttarakhand, West Bihar, Himanchal Pradesh, Sambalpur, Bhanjanagar, Kokshora, Chandahandi, Nabarangpur Municipality, performed folk dances.

Also Published in The Pioneer/The statesman/orissabarta/orissadiary.