Meet 72-year-old war veteran, Duryodhan Mohanty , who participated in Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. A former two-time Sarpanch, he has filed his nomination paper for the Sarpanch post of Barunadiha GP under Rajkanika block. He pins his hope to register a hat-trick win. Despite the twilight of his age, he has fielded his candidature.
“I had joined the Indian Army in 1970 at the age of 20 and participated in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. During my 32-year- long service, I served in Mizoram, Assam, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir. After my retirement in 2002, I settled in my village and started my second innings of life by entering into politics. I was elected Sarpanch of my native gram panchayat for two terms from 2007 to 2017. During my stint as Sarapanch, I was instrumental to provide pucca road connectivity and drinking water supply to my gram panchayat,” stated Mohanty.
Mohanty is also president of Kharasrota Banchao Sangram Samiti (an outfit opposing the Rs 892 crore mega drinking water project on river Kharashrota near Barunadiha village).
“I am optimistic that my fellow panchayat people would elect me this time too to register my hat-trick to grab the Sarpanch post,” stated Mohanty.