The Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency had always been considered as one of the major strongholds of Congress in the country.
The constituency was named as Ganjam in the first Lok Sabha election in 1951-52 and elected Bijoy Das of CPI, while the second Lok Sabha was represented by Independent candidate Uma Charan Patnaik. In 1962 during the third Lok Sabha, it was renamed Chatrapur and AT Sharma of Indian National Congress (INC) had won the election.
INC fielded R Jagannath Rao in the fourth Lok Sabha and he continued his winning spree till the eighth Lok Sabha. The constituency was further renamed as Berhampur during the sixth Lok Sabha. In the ninth Lok Sabha election in 1989, the INC fielded Gopinath Gajapati who also represented the constituency in 10th Lok Sabha in 1991. Since the seat proved to be a safe bet for Congress, the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao contested from the constituency in 1996 and represented it for the 11th Lok Sabha.
For the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998, Congress fielded Jayanti Patnaik as its candidate and she too emerged victorious. As the winning spree continued, the constituency emerged as a strong fort for Congress. But the fort crumbled in 1999 following the ‘Atal wave’ when BJP candidate Anadi Sahu won the seat during the 13th Lok Sabha.
Congress regained its lost honour in 14th Lok Sabha in 2004 and its candidate Chandra Sekhar Sahu won the poll battle defeating Anadi Sahu.
Chandra Sekhar, however, had to face defeat again to a new entrant and cine superstar Sidhant Mohapatra who got BJD ticket. After delimitation prior to the 15th Lok Sabha election, the Ramgiri segment was abolished and a new segment Digapahandi created.
The constituency comprises Gopalpur, Chikiti, Berhampur, Chatrapur, Digapahandi Assembly segments of Ganjam district and Parlakhemundi and Mohona of Gajapati district. Here, the major issues are lack of proper road communication networks, education, agriculture and water scarcity. Apart from this, all the segments are prone to migration.