SAMBALPUR: The election season here has turned to be a ‘calculated’ family affair. In Sambalpur district, three members of a family have entered the political fray and are contesting for the posts of panchayat samiti members in three different gram panchayats (GPs) under Naktideul block of Sambalpur district.
While 62-year-old Sudarshan Sahu, who was block chairman of Naktideul block from 1997 to 2002, is contesting for the post from Ghusramal GP, his wife Santi Sahu (58) is contesting from Sahebi GP.
Their daughter-in-law Swaruparani Sahu (27) is contesting from Naktideul GP.
But here’s the twist. There are 14 GPs under the Naktideul block. The post of block chairperson is reserved for women. According to Sudarshan, his wife will contest for the block chairperson post reserved for women if she wins as panchayat samiti member.
Since Santi would need votes of at least eight panchayat samiti members to win the block chairperson position, Sudarshan decided that three of his family including him would contest the election for the posts of samiti members so that it will not be a problem for Santi to clinch the post if all of them win.
Sudarshan said during his tenure as the block chairman, development of Naktideul and the people was always a priority which pushed him to contest the panchayat polls this time.
He however conceded that his wife and daughter-in-law were initially not ready to contest but later persuaded. The two are not campaigning though. “I am campaigning for myself along with canvassing for my wife and daughter-in-law. I am confident that people will support me and my family,” Sudarshan said.