Pitfalls of Politics

‘Politics is the last resort of the scoundrels‘, said George Bernard Shaw. However, my father Shri Rankanath Biswal chose to be a politician in his younger days. A high school dropout, he started his public life at a very tender age with the establishment of a school and a post office in the village.

Initially, he donated a piece of land for the school and taught in the village school for sometime. Being the only son of a well-to-do family, he had developed an inclination for social service. My grandfather Late Prabhakar Biswal was a Kanungo during British rule and had bequeathed enough landed properties for his son.

After his marriage to my mother Bijayaprava, the beloved daughter of my maternal grandfather Late Duryodhan Ray, a veteran freedom fighter and first chairman of Danagadi Panchayat Samiti, he was dragged into politics and succeeded him as Chairman in 1963 when my maternal grandfather lost in a no confidence motion. He was hardly twenty-five years old then. But his honesty, integrity and dedication earned him a reputation in public for which he got elected for the second time as chairman.

In the general election to the legislative assembly in 1971, he contested for MLA for Sukinda constituency on a Congress party ticket. But he lost to Sanatan Deo of Utkal Congress, a regional party headed by late Biju Patnaik. The election saw Biju Babu lose from multiple constituencies and Congress party coming to power once again under the leadership of late Nandini Satpathy. Interestingly, after the election, his rival late Sanatan Deo defected to the Congress party. There was no anti-defection law then, which would have disqualified him.

It was a serious blow to my father, and he had to resign from the Congress party in protest. Biju Patnaik immediately invited him to join his party, but he politely refused, saying that he needed some time to decide.

The electoral debacle in 1971 left my father financially and emotionally drained out. He was totally disillusioned and decided to take ‘sanyas’ from active politics. Even he didn’t take any interest in the family affairs and my mother had to manage the things on her own. The financial condition of the family reached such a pass that he had to sell out the transistor set to settle the hiring charges of a taxi.

I was in default to pay the school fees. It was a hard time for the family. When he was chairman for several years, he used to spend money from his pocket to help people and never compromised with his principles. Therefore, he could not digest his defeat and finally, when his opponent was inducted in the party without his consent, he found himself like a fish out of water. Gradually, things were normal, and he continued to carry on constructive social work.

During his tenure as Chairman, he was one of the founding members of Vyasanagar College, Jajpur Road in our locality. In 1973, he established a middle English School in the village and I got admitted as one of the first batch students. For establishment of the school, he had to struggle hard, but his strong determination could see his dream come true. His next aim was to establish a high school in the village which could not be materialized due to indifference of the villagers to such an idea.

Of course, I could make it possible at a later stage with his blessings and guidance. He got himself engaged in diverse activities and devoted his time to different cultural and social functions in the village. He was a singer, composer and dramatist of fair repute in the locality and used to direct annual plays in the village. He continued to enjoy the respect and admiration of the people for his selfless work and fairness in public life.

In the aftermath of the Emergency era, he was drawn to an anti-Congress fold. He had constant links with anti-Congress leaders, but he kept away from active politics. During tenth Assembly Election in 1990, he had to come out of the closet and openly canvassed for the Janata Dal candidate and ensured his victory. Soon after the election for the rural local bodies was announced. His longtime political friends from the area requested him to contest the election from the ruling party, but the MLA who was then a minister preferred a local contractor.

I tried to dissuade him, but he insisted on contesting the election for the post of chairman for the third term. Consequently, he contested as an independent candidate and with help of the opposition members he won the election in a tie by lottery. This was a slap for the minister and it was highlighted in the media as his defeat. But he tried to pacify my father and finally my father had to accept for a greater interest because without support of the MLA the development work would have suffered.

This time round, he had to sell away a piece of land for participating in the election. In his own version, he had spent three hundred rupees in the first election, three thousand in the second term and thirty thousand in the third one. Nowadays, the situation has gone down beyond imagination. He completed the third term successfully for five years and finally volunteered to leave politics. Years later, I had a chance meeting with the officer who had conducted the election in 1990. He had high regards for my father. He said that the win that day in the lottery confirmed that honesty and fairness had a chance even in ‘Kali Yug.’

Even the then Collector had the same view. His image as an honest and upright politician has never been compromised. Now he’s leading a quiet life in his eighties far from the crowd and taking pride for whatever he has done for the people. Losing my mother just a year back has mellowed down his spirits, but he is still active physically and mentally. We have every reason to feel proud of him and our attainments in life owe to his noble work.

Once I met Rabindra Mohan Senapati, IAS (Retired) in the house of late Bighnaraj Patel and he instantly recognised me as the son of my father whom he considered as a friend from the days when he was SDO in Jajpur in the early part of his career. He profusely praised my father as an honest and pro people politician.

Similarly, once I was attending a course in Gopabandhu Academy and the late Pyari Mohan Mohapatra was then the Director General. While he was present in the class, I made some comments on the Panchayati Raj system and he enquired how I could know such things. When I said that my father was a three times Chairman of a Panchayat Samiti he wanted to know the details.

I mentioned my father and he could immediately relate to him since he was then Director, Special Projects in Panchayati Raj Department when my father was the Chairman. All the politicians and bureaucrats who came across him at any point of time carry a high opinion about him- as either a good host or a nice person. This is no way less rewarding to a son than any material possession.