Jamshedpur: Utkal Association triennial election turns out as race of gems

Jamshedpur: All eyes of people belonging to the Odiya community are set on the triennial election of the Utkal Association scheduled to be held on Sunday.

Though the election is going to be held in a premier socio-cultural organisation at Sakchi locality of the steel city, the enthusiasm and warmth among the contestants were hardly seen before.

With the polling for electing a new executive committee less than 24 hours away, the candidates are making last hours hectic campaigning over the phone and physical appearances before the electorate though the number of the latter is below the 1,000 mark.

Earlier, when the election date was declared and the campaigning was kicked off a fortnight ago, the contestants divided into two groups flooded several localities having considerable Odiya population with posters, banners and flex boards figuring their photographs.

All 45 contestants are in the fray for the July 24 triennial election being held in a serene atmosphere. Among those who aspire for a victory include professor Ashok Mohapatra, poet-cum-journalist Badal Bhuiya, senior surgeon of Tata Main Hospital Dr Sridhar Pradhan, social activist Tarun Mohanty and academician Manoranjan Pasayat.

Significantly, the business tycoon and managing director of RSB Group, Shuvendu Behera who is the patron of the Utkal Association is monitoring the electioneering.

“Though Shuvendu Behera is not contesting the election, he is very much associated with the electioneering despite his busy schedule. Once the election process gets through, our association will get a vibrant new executive body,” one of the contestants Dilip Kumar Sahoo while talking to this website.

Moreover, as the polling day comes closer, the contestants are getting increasingly anxious, several of them were seen approaching the people of the community who are not even members of the association.

“Even though I am not a member of this premier association, I have been approached by more than one candidate to vote for them. But even if I would be a member, it would be a difficult thing for me to decide whom to cast my vote as all the contestants are close to my heart,” observed a man of the community requesting anonymity.