BHUBANESWAR: Never before a by-election has attracted so much attention and aroused curiosity as is seen in Padampur, an Assembly segment of Bargarh Lok Sabha constituency.The candidature of Barsha Singh Bariha nee Baliarasingh, daughter of former MLA Bijaya Ranjan Singh Bariha and daughter-in-law of BJP leader and former MLA Ramaranjan Baliarsingh has been the major talking point of the poll.
As BJP triggered a debate over Barsha’s tribal status after her marriage in general caste to tag her an ‘outsider,’ her counter that she is still the daughter of Padampur caught up with the electorates. The ruling party is quite positive of retaining its tribal support which constitutes nearly 29 per cent of the total electorate.
Going by the trends of this constituency, Barsha belonging to the dominant Binjhal tribe with 8.5 per cent voters has advantage over the BJP. The Padampur constituency has elected tribal leaders nine times notwithstanding the fact that the seat has been de-reserved from the first election in 1952.
Sources said, the neighbouring Khariar Assembly seat in Nuapada district is no different. A general seat, Khariar has elected another tribal candidate and a popular leader, Duryodhan Majhi six times during 1990 to 2019.
In the first ever Assembly election held in 1946, the pre-independence era, Lall Ranjit Singh Bariha was elected from West Bargargh (ST) constituency from a Congress ticket and made minister for public works, tribals and rural welfare.
In the first election after independence in 1952, Anirudha Mishra was elected from Padampur as an independent candidate. However, his untimely demise led to by-election the same year and Bir Bikramaditya Singh Bariha of Congress won.
Bikramaditya lost the next election in 1957 to LMS Bariha of Ganatantra Parishad. He, however, was elected again from the seat in 1961 on a Congress ticket and in 1967 as a Jana Congress nominee.
Krupasindhu Bhoi of Congress was elected to the fifth (1971-73) and sixth (1974-1977) Assembly from Padampur. With Janata Party returning to power in 1977, Bikramaditya Bariha again won the Assembly election. Satya Bhusan Sahu, the Congress nominee for this by-poll, was the winner in 1980, 1985 and 2004 elections.
With Janata Dal coming to power under the leadership of Biju Patnaik in 1990, Bijaya Ranjan, a post-graduate from JNU and scion of the Bariha royal family, tasted electoral victory for the first time on JD ticket. He won the next two elections in 1995 and 2000 on Janata Dal and Biju Janata Dal tickets respectively.
He, however, lost the 2004 election to Sahu and returned to Assembly in 2009. Bariha against lost the seat to Pradip Purohit of BJP in 2014 under Narendra Modi wave and then defeated Purohit in 2019.