The very short list of leaders in Odisha who enter the State Assembly as members on the strength of their direct association with people’s movements has got a new addition, Talcher Independent MlA Braja Kishore Pradhan.
These leaders did not get the privileged seat in the House by family association or wealth or status, rather they did it by dint of their sheer activism in pursuit of a cause and all the trials and tribulations they have had to undergo. Pradhan was long associated with trade unionism of the working class for a long time in the industry and mine rich Angul district.
He led many agitations for thousands of fellow workers in the Talcher coal fields and was able to solve many of their problems. The MCl coal fields where workers’ problems are innumerable, Pradhan, who belongs to a nondescript village in the mines area, suffering several hardships along with fellow villagers, had taken up the cudgels to fight for the interest of the poor labourers and workers, besides liaising with the MCl management for solving many peripheral problems in the villages close to the mines. His long association with the workers’ movement had made him popular before he wanted to join active politics in Congress ticket from Talcher in 2009.
However, Talcher had been a forte of the BJP till 2009 with leaders Mahesh Sahoo and Dharmendra Pradhan having a lot of fan following. These two leaders had carved a niche for them besides providing the saffron party a strong base in the coal rich area. Sahoo had been a three time MlA from Talcher till 2009 while Pradhan had been a member of the Assembly from Pallahara constituency, while his father was an MP from Deogarh. Though Talcher BJP was not free from dissent with the two veterans not feeling at ease with each other, very few had doubted that Sahoo’s dissent would lead to his quitting the party at the eleventh hour during the last Assembly polls and his joining BJD.
His departure from the BJP weakened its very base with the result that the BJP votes got divided, favouring directly to the BJD. But despite this, the BJD could not win the seat as the BJD leaders, who gnashed their teeth because of Sahoo’s entry, diverted BJD support base to the BJP and the Congress. Disgruntled, long aspirant for BJD ticket Mayadhar Samal had left the party and joined the BJP with his supporters. BJP nominated Kalandi Samal was not in any way a parallel of Sahoo and hence, despite high-voltage campaign by Dharmendra Pradhan and mobilization of all resources, he could not win the polls. On the other hand, Congress during nomination of candidate
miscalculated Braja Pradhan’s strength and was swayed away by a lobby from another aspirant Khirod Sahu. Peeved over the decision of the party high command, Pradhan filed his nomination as an Independent candidate. This led to a division of the Congress votes also. In the end, curiously it was found that all the parties BJD, BJP and Congress suffered divisions in vote base and it was Pradhan who emerged as the single largest vote winner, leaving BJD’s Sahoo, BJP’s Samal, and Congress’s Sahu behind. Thus, did start a career in active politics by Pradhan. The recent violence in Talcher has given a shot in Pradhan’s arms. It has enlarged his image as a pro people leader.
Though the district administration and police under bureaucratic and political pressure showed over activism and arrested Pradhan and ensured that he went into the gallows, Pradhan has won the heart of the people of the area, workers bodies and political leaders across the State by fighting against injustice to the contractual workers by a MCl contractor. He faced the wrath of the henchmen of the contractor while holding a stir against his draconian policy to retrench hundreds of daily wagers. He was on the field while goons attacked him and got him injured. later, he faced harassment at the hands of both the police and the district administration. The police arrested him from Bhubaneswar illegally and held his trial in Talcher court. They held him solely responsible for the violence in the MCl railway siding and all the loss that was caused by the burning of vehicles and ransacking of MCl offices.
They booked him under several serious charges that are applicable to dreaded criminals. But it all proved vain. Instead of any dent in his popularity, it helped him build up his image. He got overwhelming support from the members across party line in House in session. The protest the Government faced in the House and at Angul and Talcher forced it to release Pradhan from Talcher Jail. In today’s opportunistic politics, leaders, who come to Assembly owing to family linkage or muscle and money power, should take a leaf from Pradhan’s book.