Odisha has 21 Lok Sabha constituencies, including Koraput. It encompasses seven assembly segments – Gunupur (BJD), Bissam Cuttack (BJD), Rayagada (independent), Laxmipur (BJD), Jeypore (Congress) and Pottangi Congress – that are spread across the two districts of Rayagada and Koraput.
The current MP for this seat is Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka of the Congress party who will be challenged by Kaliram Majhi from the BJP and Kausalya Hikaka from BJD among others.
May 13th is a polling day here in this fourth round of general elections taking place in seven phases. The results will be announced on June 4.
Political dynamics
Koraput has long been seen as a stronghold for the Congress. With the exception of the 2009 and 2014 polls, it has always been a win for this party. As it is with Odisha, this bastion too appears to be slowly slipping away. The entry of BJP with open arms would have jolted Congress camp as well as BJD camp.
Earlier this year, Congress regained its hold on Koraput after losing it to BJD in 2014. Its sitting MP Ulaka has been renominated again. Nevertheless, the story lies herein numbers. In his victory over the same constituency last year, Ulaka only managed to poll more than his nearest rival by just about four thousand votes or so; a very slim margin indeed. It won’t be easy for its sitting member to keep things that way since his counterparts from other parties who were initially set against him are now fighting hard to dislodge him thereby making it a multi-cornered contest between them i.e., BJP vs BJD vs INC opposition parties.
Our ground correspondents believe that the Congress is slightly ahead, but the situation is fluid. In case Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a rally in Koraput, it might change everything for the worse as far as Congress party is concerned.
However, what seems to be of great concern to Congress party is that their own house has gone haywire. They have openly revolted against the MP and MLA candidates from this district. However, since Odisha is also voting at same time for its next state government, so ticket allocation for MLAs will also affect the omens of winning over parliamentary constituency at large.
There are many political aspirants of both MLA and MP positions who were denied tickets thus they may not support Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka. The son of President of Koraput Zilla Congress Committee, Abinash Gamang known youth leader is one among them; he now appears on an independent candidate’s list of nominees. On his part, Jayaram Pangi who had joined Congress after quitting Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) was eyeing too on this seat and now he’s reportedly unhappy after denial of such opportunity.
The major rifts within the pro-Congress group might give the opposition a chance of sharing votes with it, as well as make voters recognize that a party with intra-party splits such as Congress may not be an appropriate political force to represent them in Lok Sabha. Apart from Saptagiri Ulaka’s own relationship with the people and his grassroots approach, what is really counting for Congress is Koraput’s historical support to the party. However, considering that both BJP and BJD are vying for victory, one wonders if these broad pillars on which Congress’ strategy rest will yield any fruits here.
Koraput must be retained by Congress or otherwise it stands to lose almost all its Lok Sabha seats in Odisha. This will hurt most of all the party’s organization in Odisha – whatever remains of it.
Both BJD and BJP understand very well that if Congress retains Koraput, it would be like a badge of honor. This is what defines politics today; both parties are out to sink congress at all costs.
Since 2019, BJP has made great strides in strengthening its position in Koraput. Historically, BJP has found it difficult to establish its bases here because their leadership was weak and there were no organizational activities taking place strong enough ever since then this situation has rapidly changed favoring BJP.
Even during the previous elections here, BJP candidates improved their vote share across the district considerably. Today however, saffron party is at par with both BJD and Congress in all five assembly constituencies of Koraput district while it had not been a serious contender in 2019.
Starting off early could be one reason why BJP performed better this time around than during general elections last year. Furthermore, saffron party which did serious groundwork here helped penetrate into every level including grass root levels especially among tribals areas.Additionally regular visits by central ministers including community specific meetings have given a boost to party’s image among the voters.
The growing resentment against the state government of BJD in several areas is another factor that is driving people towards BJP. Interestingly, Congress does not find mention in most such discussions. Besides, the Modi factor and January consecration ceremony at Ram Mandir in Ayodhya are other big issues which have been pulling voters to saffron party.
To make their presence felt before nomination filing on 25th March 2024, BJP did not wait until it was late. During the time of filing his nomination papers for Koraput Lok Sabha seat as well as Laxmipur candidate Kailash Kulesika, Raghuram Macha from Koraput, and Chaitanya Nandibali for Pottangi assembly constituency by BJP representatives, there was boisterous carnival where more than twenty thousand supporters accompanied them to this event. Majhi has claimed that the BJP will sweep Koraput this time.
However ground inputs suggest that Kaliram Majhi is neither popular nor familiar among public and this may be pushing voters towards Congress and BJD. It’s one chink in its armory. If saffron party were to win here largely it would be mainly due to Mr. Narendra Modi himself along with visits made by senior ministers from his government here.”
In so far as the matter of BJD is concerned, its core electorates are expected to stick with it. A fairly large number of voters fall into this category. In 2019, despite losing in the election, the party managed to get 3.67 lakh votes and secured a vote share of 34%. But at the assembly elections, the impact of BJD could be more significant. One characteristic that defines elections in Odisha is that voters seem to have separated into two groups; who they want for their state government and who they will choose as their federal leader among candidates. Despite being a favourite for many when it comes to state government matters, BJD loses ground as far as choosing which party should govern the country.
On the other hand, another political move by BJD that has not gone down well with Naveen Patnaik’s camp was its decision to field Kausalya Hikaka again after she lost to Congress in 2019. Tulsar Kirsam – a strong tribal leader coming from Lamatapur area was widely believed to be one of top contenders for Koraput ticket but finally he was denied this ticket.
Currently this makes all three parties evenly balanced between victory and defeat in Koraput. It is such a closely fought contest that any party may win – even if the margin of victory remains small.
- Demographics
- SC: 14.29%
- ST: 52.92%
- Hindu: 91.6%
- Christian: 6.6%
- Muslim:1.8%
- Key issues
Child marriage: Child marriage is one major problem in Koraput constituency which is dominated by tribals and Dalits (Scheduled Tribes & Scheduled Castes). According to sources, at least “sixty-five” (65) efforts were made by local administration to prevent child marriages within this region during “2023.” Moreover, child marriage is still a typical phenomenon among the Paraja, Gadaba, Bhumiya, Bhatra, Halwa, Soura and Kondh tribes in the Koraput district. The practice of underage marriages sanctioned by tradition particularly in remote areas continues to pose considerable challenges to local authorities despite their sensitization campaigns and increased vigilance. As a matter of fact, interventions are made complicated by families hiding udliya (elopement) marriages.
Unemployment: There is also unemployment issue faced by Koraput. This region has no major industries hence very few job opportunities. However most farmers concentrate on subsistence farming rather than selling produce from their farms which leads to massive outflows to urban areas in search of employment at large scale. Also they face discrimination when they move outside as many tribals do.
Civic amenities: Many civic issues confront the tribal population including water supplies till health facilities; lack of road connectivity in some parts; sanitation with lack of proper drainage system; and electricity cuts. For instance some hamlets under this administrative block have not seen electric power from 1947 till now. Secondly, the failure by government to provide water has become a critical issue for residents of Bamuniaguda village who are now threatening to boycott next general election if that happens. It was included into piped water scheme however the supply is erratic there.
Poor network connection: Koraput district is poorly connected through mobile networks which hinders communication and carrying awareness in these parts. There are clusters of villages separated by 3-4 kilometers from each other. Despite attempts to increase the network coverage, inadequate road connectivity and thick forests have hampered their spread. Information is transmitted by deploying informers to these areas. However, this information on critical awareness and vaccination awareness programmes is not dependable.
Education: Lack of adequate educational infrastructure for the tribal population in Koraput. According to reports, the literacy rate among the tribal population is a mere 32.4%. The main reasons include school dropout and absenteeism due to economic reasons, household chores, lack of interest in studies, parents uninterested in studies of children apart from language barriers as well as distance and difficulties in reaching school. Educational processes mostly disregard the socio-cultural characteristics and during early years of education tribal children face serious language problems with teaching staff who are not themselves tribals leading to poor literacy rates.
Tribal issues: Although tribals account for majority of people in Koraput constituency they suffer from many problems such as poverty resulting into low income levels, worse physical living conditions; less access to proper healthcare services, education facilities, among others and limited access to labour market; land & capital markets too. Discrimination against them by their fellow countrymen can be given as an example for this topic. This situation hampers their effort for jobs. They have also been subjected to violence at some instances. Separation from central activities is another key problem faced by these communities because many live deep inside forests that do not have any roads hence cannot improve socio-economically.
Infrastructure
Gupteswar temple project: The temple will come up with a budgetary provision of Rs 20 crore so that it can boost tourism and contribute towards improving upon socio-economic status of the area it serves.
Jhangabati river barrage project: The project is being constructed at a cost of Rs 106 crore. It is a 106ft barrage near Chintaguda village.
Hospital infrastructure: SLN Medical College and Hospital is building a 650 bed hospital and cancer wing for Rs 266 crores. Further, another 300 bed hospital in Jeypore is under construction with an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore.
Tourism: Under the Swadesh Darshan 2.0 programme of the ministry of tourism, Koraput has been selected by the Centre for development as a tourist destination. The scheme will facilitate in developing tourism activities, infrastructure and sanitation at identified tourist sites within district and also looking into tourist services, marketing & promotion and capacity building to enhance overall tourism potentiality in the district.
The Railway infrastructure: The constituency has undergone a number of changes, such as wider circulating areas, waiting halls and platform extensions. With the addition of new train services as well as higher frequencies on current ones, passengers’ connections have been improved. Furthermore, there was a massive investment in track doubling, electrification and construction of new lines that will improve efficiency and enable future expansion of rail services in the area. Additionally footbridges, road over bridges were built while level crossings were abolished to ensure safety and accessibility. These measures are intended to increase passenger security and streamline traffic flow. In stations like Koraput and Rayagada modern facilities were added including washing trains platforms and enhanced watering systems for coaches.
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