He is a young Independent candidate in the Barchana Assembly constituency in Jajpur district. Jatindra Sahu (39) is just like any other commoner struggling to eke out a living. What, however, is unique about him is his passion for contesting elections.
Jatindra, who beongs to Kharmanga village under Siha panchayat in Barchana block, is a graduate in Arts, but he earns his livelihood by selling vegetables at a makeshift footpath shop at the Chandikhol Square on the NH-5. Earlier, he used to run a paan shop from the same place.
Come elections, Jatindra packs up his business and is ready to jump into the fray. He files his nominations as a candidate by somehow arranging money from his near and dear ones for the cash deposit. This election, he has been allotted the ‘Bat’ symbol.
Jatindra has a stomach-full of ‘Pakhal’(water rice) in the morning at his home before moving out by his bicycle with a bagful of pushing cards for campaigning. Wherever he spots a crowd, he stops and distributes the cards that bear his photograph and election symbol and appeals to the gathering with folded hands to vote for him.
He often faces the question, “You don’t have a party nor manpower behind you. You don’t have a vehicle nor any money to invest even on posters and banners. How do you expect people to vote for youIJ”But Jatindra has his answer, “I am contesting elections to serve the people. If people desire, they will vote for me. I’ll continue to contest till people realise my worth and help me win one day.”In the 2009 elections, Jatindra had contested from the same Barchana on a Kalinga Sena ticket and had got 229 votes.
Earlier in 2007, he had contested as a sarpanch candidate in Siha panchayat. In 2012, he contested simultaneously from Zones-20 and 16 of Barchana in the panchayat elections. In none of the elections, he fetched more than 500 votes. But he is surely not the one to give up.