She is a bahu and an ``outsider'' too. She has been contesting elections for nearly a decade and even won this Lok Sabha seat in 1998. But BJP candidate Sangeeta Kumari Singhdeo of the Bolangir royal family has to fight the charge of being an outsider and a stark example of dynastic rule hurled at her by her opponents.``Of course, she is an outsider,'' fumes the president of the state unit of Janata Dal (U) and chairman of the newly-formed Western Orissa Development Council, Narasingha Misra. ``The stand of the National Democratic Alliance on dynastic rule and on Sonia Gandhi should apply to her, since she was neither born here nor was ever involved in the affairs of Bolangir,'' says Misra, a die-hard critic of the royal family.The `Yuv Rani', however, is unfazed. A seasoned campaigner by now, she does not even bother to counter the charges. ``The people here know me well enough to ignore such attacks,'' she says. Married to K B Singhdeo, BJP legislator from Patnagarh, the 37-year old Sangeetahad been elected as chairperson of Patnagarh Notified Area Council before she made her debut in the parliamentary polls of 1996. Though she lost the first time, she won the seat with a handsome margin of over 2 lakh votes in 1998.Confident of victory this time too because of what she describes as a ``pro-Vajpayee wave' sweeping the state, Sangeeta is leaving nothing to chance. Her white Tata Sierra hits the road early in the morning and returns to base in Patnagarh well past midnight everyday. Her husband is her campaign manager.For the first time uncle-in-law A.U.Singhdeo, a senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and MP, has extended her support. This will help in consolidating the ``loyal royal'' votes in her favour. The chacha and bahu had locked horns in 1996 and the Congress was the gainer.She, however, admits that the election is tougher this time despite the favourable conditions. ``I am the sitting MP,'' she points out and the Opposition knives are definitely out. ``I amsurviving because of my achievements in the 13-month period and there is no charge of corruption against me,'' she says.Banking mainly on what she describes as the non-performance of the Congress and the loyalty of a fairly large section of the voters, Sangeeta reels off a long list of her achievements as MP. On this list figure monetary sanction for three irrigation projects, Rs 10 crore for the Bolangir-Khurda rail link, declaration of the Boriguma-Bolangir-Bargarh road as a state highway and, most importantly, the Department for International Development aid of Rs 2000 crore for watershed programmes in the constituency.Interestingly, her Congress rival and two-time MP Sarat Chandra Patnaik, too, claims credit for these projects. As he makes a desperate effort to wrest the seat from the BJP, his campaign is clearly flagging because of lack of enthusiasm in the Congress camp. Congress leader and former minister Muzaffar Hussain Khan asserts that the party rank and file have put up a spirited bid to seePatnaik through. But the lifeless district Congress office and the disinterest of the party workers loitering there tell a different story.The Congress is undoubtedly on the defensive here. Absence of leadership, deterioration in the law and order, lack of effective administration and poor election management are some of the major factors going against the ruling party. The good news for the Congress is that Patnaik has the support of Janata Dal (U) leader Narasingh Misra this time, who commands a good deal of support in some segments. His workers have already started campaigning for Patnaik.Another factor which might bolster Congress prospects is the presence of a large number of migrant labourers. The labourers, mostly tribal and traditionally Congress voters, are yet to move out to their workplace after the nuakhai festival.Though Misra dismisses existence of any `Vajpayee wave', he agrees that the BJP has the support of the people. He feels had the Congress played the Western Orissa DevelopmentCouncil card intelligently, it would have turned the tables on the BJP and its ally, the BJD. But the Pradesh Congress Committee, he points out, has not yet welcomed the formation of the WODC.
