In last remaining haven in Odisha, Congress battles defections, rues big names giving region a miss

In a state that it once dominated and is now almost relegated to the margins, the undivided Koraput region in south Odisha is the Congress’s last remaining refuge where it still has a sizable vote share.

On Monday, as the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls begin in Odisha, among the Congress’s chief objectives will be holding on to its position in Koraput, where it still has over 30% plus vote share. While the Lok Sabha constituencies of Koraput and Nabarangpur — the two parliamentary seats in the region — are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (STs), 12 of the 14 Assembly constituencies are earmarked for the Adivasis.

But despite the chance of winning from there — the region comprises the districts of Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, and Malkangiri — local leaders said the central leadership skipped the area, dealing them a big blow. The party has also been hobbled by a series of defections.

While senior leader Taraprasad Bahinipati is going for a hat-trick of wins from the Jeypore Assembly seat, the only non-reserved seat in the region, a local Congress functionary said, “Even when the party has a chance to win one or both the Lok Sabha seats and half of the 14 Assembly seats, the central leadership did not send any senior leader to campaign in the region. Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to address a rally in Rayagada but it was cancelled as he had to file his nomination from Rae Bareli the same day.”

The Congress leader said that at a time when the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the ruling party in the state, and the BJP were pushing hard to expand in the region, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) did not pay any heed to requests to send senior central leaders and left the candidates to fend for themselves. In contrast,