Good Against Good: The Fight In Kandhamal

There is a small, quaint, no-frills hill station in Odisha, which to many is known as the ‘Kashmir of Odisha’. Anyone who has travelled through the hilly, forested tribal terrain of the state would have no doubt about the abundance of natural beauty that Odisha holds, but the comparison to Kashmir might seem a little off to many.

The truth is that in the tropical, sweltering heat of the State, this little beauty tucked away in Kandhamal sometimes experiences snowfall. It is not the white blanket of snow that you would see in Srinagar or Gulmarg, but maybe a thin sheet of it.

Kandhamal is known for the beautiful Daringbadi, for its abundance of natural wealth, for the many tribal communities it houses, for rampant proselytisation and sadly for ethnic (and religious) riots and simmering demographic discontent.

Last month, Kandhamal and Daringbadi got a new claim to fame. In January this year, 300 members of the Pastors Association of Daringbadi and the members of Pulbani press club approached the newly elected Biju Janta Dal (BJD) Rajya Sabha MP, Achyuta Samanta, with a request. They wanted a school for only Christian boys and girls modelled around the hugely popular Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS).

KISS houses more than 25,000 tribal students from 62 different tribal communities including students from 16 primitive tribal groups. The institute was accorded the status of a University in 2017 and has the unique distinction of being the exclusively tribal university in the world. Dignitaries from across the world, movie stars, policy makers and politicians make a beeline for the University and KISS has been stepping up its public relations game every single year. KISS now wants to expand its footprint to 20 districts of Odisha and also to the neighbouring states with a significant tribal population.

An institute of only Christian tribal students might on the face of it seem like a very controversial idea. Especially in a district known for ethnic and religious strife and rampant and unchecked proselytisation. But, for Achyuta Samanta it was just the next logical step into establishing a solid footprint in the district. And the first footprint as an elected representative. Achyuta Samanta joined the BJD last year and was immediately awarded with a Rajya Sabha seat. Earlier this year, he was declared the Lok Sabha candidate from the Kandhamal district.

Everyone in Odisha knows Achyuta Samanta. He owns the private professional institute, Kalinga Institute which has branches for science, law and medicine along with social science and a turnover of about 1000 crores every year. He values the institutions that he created at around Rs. 10,000 crores. But while being the founder of these extremely successful organisations, he has declared an annual income of Rs. 25 lakh and cash holding of Rs. 20,500. He also owns a TV news channel, Kalinga TV which acts as a mouthpiece of the ruling BJD.

While there could be some skepticism about him in other parts of the state, in tribal districts and particularly in Kandhamal, he is a larger-than-life figure. His schools have given at least two generations of tribal families a new attained identity and upward mobility through education and employment. He is seen to have brought dignity and aspiration to thousands of students and is equally admired by both the Hindu and the Christian tribal communities. He brings to the BJD another means to consolidate the tribal vote, which it had managed to snatch away from the Congress but which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now trying to capture.

The BJD had won the Kandhamal seat both in 2009 and 2014. Hemendra Chandra Singh of the Nayagarh royal family had won the last election with a margin of 1.8 lakh votes. But a few months after his win, Singh passed away and his wife Pratyusha Rajeshwari popularly known as ‘Rani Maa Nayagarh’ was fielded as the BJD candidate for the bye-poll election. She managed to retain the seat by 1.7 lakh votes.

The sitting MP, Pratyusha, has now been replaced with Samanta and she has since joined BJP. The BJP also chose not to field her as the opposing candidate to Samanta. Instead they went for the ‘prodigal son’ and 3 time BJP MP from Balasore, Kharabela Swain. Swain has rejoined the BJP after nearly a decade and enjoys the reputation of being a ‘too good for politics’ politician. There is a certain disconnect because he is not from the district, but as a three time MP Swain is no stranger to politics. And some of the dynamics in the district have actually made it a less unequal fight than initially expected.

Kandhamal is not just known for rampant proselytisation but also has one of the strongest Sangh parivar units in the country. Each of the three tribal assembly segments with a significant proportion of minority groups which are pro-BJD, also have a significant number of Sangh activists who are behind the reverse polarisation. Swain though had an acrimonious exit from the BJP years earlier and had left with a very bitter fallout with the Sangh.

After his 2009 loss in Balasore, the relations between him and the Sangh Parivar soured in Balasore and some of the ramifications of that can be seen till now. Now the issues have been ironed out and Swain is relying on the good will and the welfare-related activities of the Sangh, but it is still unclear as to whether the whole might of the Sangh is out there to bring him a victory. On the other hand, the fact that Samanta has projected himself as a leader of the Adivasis and probably only the Adivasis, has created an undercurrent of dissent among other communities including the Dumals and Kultas.

Travelling through some of the assembly segments of Kandhamal, one can certainly get a feeling that the recall value of Samanta’s name is much more than that of Swain. His long absence from any strong party in the state and his presence in the coastal belt puts him at a disadvantage when it comes to being a known face in the district. Samanta on the other hand, is a present figure in the district and his philanthropic activities have been well marketed.

In the beautiful Daringibadi, Samanta has a clear lead and probably would have anyway enjoyed the lead with or without the new school. Swain in some interviews has said that, it is a fight between good and evil, where his political probity has given him the good label. It is the truth, but another truth is also that it is better summed up as a fight of ‘good and good’. Both Samanta and Swain enjoy goodwill and the work of KISS as well of the Sangh to different communities symbolises the good. It is a matter of who has managed to capture the imagination of the people better and at this point it seems like Samanta is in a lead.

Discussions with people watching Kandhamal closely, did not give any clear indication of how close that lead is, but it is not an unequal fight anymore.

This report is part of Swarajya's 50 Ground Stories Project - an attempt to throw light on issues and constituencies the old media largely refuses to engage. You can support this initiative by sponsoring as little as Rs 2,999. Click here for more details.