More than a month ago, on the evening of July 28, people found passing by the Rental Colony area of Baramunda, Bhubaneswar nearly impossible. All roads leading to a popular temple campus were incredibly traffic-congested as never seen before. The bright side of the whole episode was that quite a few traffic police officials were dedicatedly engaged in ensuring that passersby moved smoothly. As was natural, everyone was curious to know what was going on in the unusually-illuminated temple campus. The truth was enormously heart-touching. People, irrespective of political inclination, had congregated peacefully to pay tributes to an otherwise nondescript social worker who had died young in his forties. This beloved guy, one Samir Pradhan, had given away all his assets, including intellectual and physical, to bring relief to the people in distress of any kind -- hunger, homelessness or personal threat perception due to factors beyond control.
Samir had initially no partisan or sectarian tilt. He was not a politician of the kind one gets to see across the country. He lived with his mother who was Goddess incarnate to him; and lest his attention towards her would be lost or diminished, he never chose a bride for him to raise a family despite mother’s optimal desire. The people in the area and beyond would unhesitatingly wake Samir in the middle of a stormy or chilly night seeking medical emergency, relocation or monetary help apart from personal protection against invasive situations. Nearly the whole city of Bhubaneswar and surrounding suburbs would have the same expectations from the short, stockily-built dark young man, his face beaming with an out-of-the-world radiance of courage and confidence. As time rolled by, the odd-job guy assumed the proportions of a hero who could break any tough nut with utmost ease.
No wonder, Samir was forced to lead the big number of residents as their local politician. Around a time when the BJD is the only political entity at the back of people’s mind all over Odisha, Samir fought for BMC Corporator as an independent candidate and won hands down. No party, however colossal, could dethrone him by any means. Votes poured in like torrential rain without him asking or canvassing by spending money. Only recently, he got relief from the pressure after the urban constituency was declared reserved for a woman. Interestingly, the candidate he chose is now the Corporator, which means Samir was always king without a treasure box.
Incidentally after the 2019 general elections, as per the wish of Naveen Patnaik, the BJD constituted a unique public service outfit called ‘Odisha Mo Paribar’, something in same lines as the ‘Seva Dal’ of the Congress of the remote past. Odisha Mo Paribar (OMP), though a BJD brainchild, is in letter and spirit a relief giver to anyone from Odisha placed anywhere on the planet. During the pandemic its volunteers went overboard to rescue stranded labourers anywhere in the country, organised mega blood donations and super special healthcare services to anyone in emergency need. Most significantly, around a time when Covid scared everyone into the deep interiors of home, OMP volunteers not only got the sick transported into lifesaving hospital facilities, but also carried the victims’ bodies to the crematoriums or graveyards in the flimsiest personal protection kits. Somehow or the other, Samir had come in contact with old friends engaged as volunteers in the OMP family headed by Arup Patnaik. Within days, he decided that his mission matched immaculately with that of OMP’s. And without thinking twice, he registered as a ‘Parivar’ volunteer. People kept witnessing his selfless service from then on during the scariest pandemic times across all the so-called panic waves.
Samir’s mother died only months ago. The ramshackle of the housing structure that sheltered the mother-son family went empty. Samir felt lost as he had no one to come back to after hectic days of voluntary work. He was not such a big figure to attract attention of biggies to come and express condolence. The same old local individuals, the good guys and goons and the guileful, stood by him to offer solace. But Samir could not be the same old one emotionally. He dedicated 22 hours a day to doing good to the distressed Odia people anywhere in the country on to drown the sorrow of the motherless home and, in the course, neglected the body that gave him the worldly identity. He would not eat, sleep or relax on time which took toll and he was suddenly gone.
The simple point being driven here is that these ground level guys actually effect victories for political biggies. Without such souls, the big ones up above would perish in just one term. Repeat victories would be pipedreams only. There are many ‘Samirs’ across India who come, see and conquer for the other and melt away in time without being recognised as king makers of a special kind. But by virtue of some coincidence lately, Samir had espoused the Biju Janata Dal and delivered the toughest goods against all odds. So, not strangely, the BJD, being a highly organised political outfit under a strict disciplinarian Naveen Patnaik, did not ignore Samir in death. It gave him a fabulous tribute on the eleventh day of the untimely demise. The party had kept track of all his matchless contributions, particularly after the OMP association happened, and rightly as would look appropriately respectful, Samir was accorded a massively-attended good-by deal. It was very moving to see not only political heavyweights turning up and bee-lining to say a word of admiration, but also dignitaries and achievers from several walks of life had congregated to give Samir a fittingly tearful send-off to heaven.
In sum, it is now a well-established fact that the BJD takes care of the grassroots workers who deliver on the ground to ensure the otherwise unreachable distressed individual is not neglected. This practice does not seem to happen in other parties screaming ‘we are better and brighter’ in Odisha.