BJD storming to power in Odisha for fifth consecutive term
Bhubaneswar: The ruling BJD in Odisha is set to form government for a record fifth term in a row, having bagged 104 of the 146 Assembly seats in the state and establishing leads in eight others.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is steering his Biju Janata Dal (BJD) singularly to another emphatic victory, has pocketed his home turf Hinjili in Ganjam district and is currently leading from Bijepur constituency in west Odisha.
The BJP has made substantial gains in Odisha this time, with its nominees clinching 23 seats so far, while the Congress has bagged just nine seats. The CPI(M) and an Independent have bagged one seat each.
Counting is currently underway for eight seats.
The BJD, which secured an absolute majority, is marching towards a two-third share in the assembly, with most of its ministers, including S N Patro, Usah Devi, Bikram Keshari Arukh, Prafulla Samal and Nrusingha Sahu registering thumping victories.
Polling was held in 146 of the state's 147 assembly seats, as election in Patkura was postponed twice, first after the death of a candidate and then due to cyclone Fani.
While the government's chief whip and former minister Amar Prasad Satpathy won from Barchana assembly seat, Minister Prafulla Mallick retained his home turf Kamakhyanagar.
BJD candidate and Rajya Sabha member Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, son-in-law of former chief minister J B Patnaik, won the Khandapada seat, defeating nearest Independent candidate Dusmanta Swain by a whopping 81,430 votes - the highest margin in the assembly polls so far.
Patnaik had suffered a defeat in Khandapada in 2014 assembly polls by a razor thin margin 605 votes.
BJD heavyweight and minister Maheswar Mohanty, however, faced defeat at the hands of by Jayant Kumar Sarangi of the BJP in Puri assembly seat.
The saffron party is poised to emerge as the main opposition in the state. However, unlike in most other states, where the BJP and its allies look in firm command, the party will be a feeble opposition in Odisha.
The party has 10 seats in the outgoing House.
Though BJP stalwart and former minister Jai Narayan Mishra trounced sitting BJD MLA Raseshwari Panigrahi in Sambalpur seat, many saffron party stalwarts, including Radharani Panda,and Rabi Naik, lost their seats to rivals.
In another major setback to the BJP, its legislature party leader K V Singhdeo failed to wrest the Patnagarh seat from BJD's Saroj Kumar Meher.
The Congress, which suffered a major blow in the state, has clinched just nine seats so far. The grand old party has 16 MLAs in the outgoing House.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee chief Niranjan Patnaik on Friday resigned from his post, following his defeat in Bhandaripokhari and the party's poor show in the state.
State minister Prafulla Samal has pocketed the Bhandaripokhari seat by defeating Patnaik by 8859 votes. Niranjan Patnaik is also trailing behind BJD nominee Badri Narayan Patra in Ghasipura.
Talking to reporters here, he said, "I have sent my resignation to AICC president (Rahul Gandhi) owning moral responsibility for the party's poor show in both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state."
In Bolangir, however, the grand old party has been able save its face.
Leader of opposition in the outgoing Assembly, Narasingh Mishra, defeated BJD's Arkesh Narayan Singhdeo by 5346 votes to retain the seat.
Firebrand Congress leader and party whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati clinched the Jeypore seat, beating BJD nominee and former minister Rabi Narayan Nanda by 5451 votes.
The CPI(M) has been able to bag just one seat in the state, with its candidate Laxman Munda trouncing BJD Rajit Kisan by 12,030 votes, while an Independent candidate Makaranda Muduli pocketed Rayagada constituency.
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Hyderabad retired professor in coma left without pension; family struggles to pay Rs 25 lakh bills
Hyderabad: A 64-year-old retired professor from Osmania University, Mohammad Ansari, is battling for life in a coma while his family struggles to meet mounting medical expenses due to an unresolved pension dispute.
According to The Times of India, Prof. Ansari, a former linguistics teacher, fell critically ill about 10 days ago due to kidney and lung complications and slipped into a coma.
His family has already spent nearly Rs 25 lakh on treatment, with daily hospital expenses ranging between Rs 30,000 and 40,000.
"We have spent about Rs 25 lakh so far. The hospital is charging between Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000 daily. We don't have any money left. We can only afford a rehabilitation centre," said Fayyaz Ansari, brother of the retired Osmania University professor. He said that his brother had been running from pillar to post since 1996 to clear the anomalies in his service, but failed in his efforts.
Though he began working with the university in 1997 as part-time faculty and later became regular staff, the university reportedly agreed to consider his pension eligibility only from 2003, which he contested.
The family claims that despite court directions and intervention by an Assembly committee, the university did not recognise his service from 1996 for pension benefits.
"Despite selection, he was not given joining orders. He was forced to work as a part-time faculty. In 2003, after approaching the minority commission, the HC and the assembly, he finally got orders to join as full-time faculty," Fayyaz said.
Incidentally, even the LIC-linked pension, which was offered to those not eligible under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), was denied to him despite premiums being deducted for close to 15 years on the grounds that he already has OPS. The total amount paid towards the pension was returned in 2018.
Students and well-wishers have begun crowdfunding to support his treatment. Members of the Osmania University Students’ Joint Action (JAC) Committee urged authorities to intervene and release his pending benefits or arrange financial assistance.
The issue was also raised in the Assembly by CPI MLA Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao.
However, university officials maintain that pension from 1996 cannot be granted. Registrar G. Naresh Reddy said, "He was not on the varsity rolls then. How can it be considered? In fact, this issue was placed before the executive council and the govt multiple times and it was rejected."
He said that when it comes to the LIC-linked pension, it is the govt that has kept it in abeyance and that, along with Ansari, 10 other faculty members, who joined between 2001 and 2004, were waiting for it to be resolved.
