Over a dozen families in fray in Orissa

The legacy of family runs deep in Orissa politics. And this is in full demonstration in the election to the 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats in the state, the polling for which is scheduled in two phases on April 20 and 26.

This time around, as many as a dozen families have two or more members in the fray and eight of them are trying their luck under the Congress banner alone. In the last two decades and half, the Orissa politics has been dominated by two Patnaik families, that of Biju Patnaik and JB Patnaik. The two families, who are arch rivals in politics, have shared power between them for over 22 years out of the last 24 years.

The political fortune of the family of JB Patnaik, the incumbent state Congress unit chief and three time chief minister of the state between 1980 and 2000 has soared ever since he became the chief minister of the state for the first time in 1980. He has at least three of his kin in the fray. While his son-in-law Soumya Ranjan Patnaik is the party nominee for Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat, Soumyas brother Niranjan will be contesting the assembly election from Ramchandrapur in Keonjhar district. JB's wife Jayanti Patnaik, a former MP, is also likely to get a party ticket for the Assembly polls.

Former Congress Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang and his wife Hema were recently at the centre stage of a pre-poll wrangling over the Koraput (ST) Lok Sabha seat. Gamang, who won from Koraput eight times between 1972 and 1998 before vacating it in favour his wife in 1999 when he became the chief minister, had to go through an ugly show-off with his wife before reclaiming the party nomination this time. His wife Hema has been appeased through offer of party ticket for the Gunupur Assembly seat.

The family of late Basant Biswal, former deputy chief minister, has two siblings in the fray. While Biswal's younger son is fighting the Lok Sabha elections from Jagasinghpur on Congress ticket, his elder brother Chiranjib is the party nominee for Tirtol Assembly seat.

Similarly, Amarjyoti Singhdeo, the scion of Dhenkanal royal family and son of senior Congress leader and former Union minister KP Singhdeo, has been fielded by the Congress for the Gaundia Assembly seat while the senior Singhdeo himself is contesting the Dhenknal Lok Sabha seat.

Another royal family, the Singhdeos of Balangir, have also immense clout in the state politics. While AU Singhdeo, a minister in the Naveen Patnaik government, is the BJD nominee for Balangir assembly constituency, his son is making his debut in the electoral politics as a BJD candidate for the Saintala Assembly constituency. His nephew KV Singhdeo, also a minister, is fighting the Assembly election on BJP ticket from Patnagarh while. KV'ss wife Sangita is the BJP candidate for Balangir parliamentary constituency.

The BJP in Orissa is also not free from family politics. Dharmendra Pradhan, a former MLA and BJP national secretary is contesting the election from Deogarh parliamentary constituency represented by his father Debendra Pradhan, a senior BJP leader and former Union minister. Debendra Pradhan is party nominee for Pallahara Assembly seat from which his son won last time.