'Our Droupadi' vs local poll dynamics in tribal terrain of Mayurbhanj

Sitala Hansda's face beamed with pride when asked about the route to Uparbeda, the native village of President Droupadi Murmu, in Odisha's tribal-dominated Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha (LS) constituency.

-  RAMANI RANJAN MOHAPATRA

Currently held by Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian and Union Minister Bishweswar Tudu, this seat, being the President's bastion, carries high stakes in the general elections.

"Our Droupadi?" replied Hansda, a septuagenarian, as she showed the way to Murmu's home. July 25 will mark two years in office for Murmu, the first tribal head of state and the second woman to occupy the country's highest constitutional post. "She is our community's pride," said Hansda's son Parau.

TO THE There were media reports that Uparbeda, 120 km from the district headquarters in Baripada, got electricity only after Murmu became President.

"It was just a couple of families who had recently shifted to another place in the village. Electricity now lights up every home," said Birbal Banam Soren, who lives nearby.

UND Deserving villagers have got houses or money under government schemes sanctioned, and tap water reaches every household. The road in the village was built when Murmu was a state minister back in 2002. "Repair will start soon," said Paresh Chandra Giri, 81, sitting at a Shiv temple with a group of villagers, discussing politics. "Temple work is almost complete. But some amount is pending to be disbursed. We are being asked for a commission (bribe)," said Giri.

Villagers feel progress has not been as substantial as it should have been in a President's village.

"It's been 25 years since the promise of an irrigation facility was made," said Gobinda Soren.