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Cashing in on icon image, to the hilt

Sib Kumar Das

Nidhimanjari Bisoi at her house in Mohuda on Friday.

MOHUDA (Ganjam District): Even after his death, Uddhav Bisoi, sarpanch of Mohuda village for over 35 years, proves to be an icon to seek votes.

Posters of some candidates for panchyat elections from the village having pictures of Uddhav are competing with posters of others having pictures of BJD chief Naveen Patnaik or Union Minister Chandrasekhar Sahu.

Posters torn

But the irony is that Nidhimanjari Bisoi, wife of Uddhav, says the candidates using the picture of Uddhav to seek votes have no right to do so as they are not following his ideals.

The angst of Nidhimanjari and other members of the family can be assessed from the fact that all posters having pictures of Uddhav pasted on the walls of their house have been torn leaving behind only the picture of the late leader.

Abject poverty

Uddhav, known for his services and dedication, died at the age of 76 in September last.

Nidhimanjari now lives in poverty. Teachers of a high school that was established by Uddhav donate a token amount every month to her as a mark of gratitude.

"To establish this school, my husband almost begged visiting far off places like Surat, Asansol, Berhampur," she said.

Mohuda Pharmacy College was established on the land donated by Uddhav. "He could understand the pain and problems hiding behind silent eyes and spent all his belongings to help people of the area," she said.

Achievements

Narayan Bisoi, nephew of the leader, said till his death Uddhav was the sarpanch of the village. His turban always gave him the look of a sarpanch of bygone era.

He was a genuine village chief who also settled day-to-day problems of families apart from thinking of the development of the village. Uddhav's achievement can be judged from the look of the village, which has concrete roads, drinking water facility and a sewerage system.

Moot question

Nidhimanjari as well as villagers have a big question in mind - can candidates who are using Uddhav's name prove to be worthy successors of the great sarpanch?

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