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Pratap Sarangi is an unlikely politician. A former Union Minister and the present Member of Parliament (MP) from Balasore, Sarangi, a bachelor, still lives in a thatched house made from mud and clay at Gopinathpur village under NIlagiri block.
After he was inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet as a Minister of State for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in 2019, Sarangi had expressed his desire to build a pucca house. However, he still continues to live in his humble dwelling as the construction of his dream pucca house is yet to start. Moreover, some parts of his weathered house are showing signs of decay and need urgent attention. However, Nana (as he is fondly called) is happy with his old shelter and seems to be least perturbed by the cracking walls and leaky roof.
“I believe in living with the basic needs of life while working for the people and the country. The allowance I get as a Parliamentarian is mostly spent on the education of poor students and fulfilling the requirements of poor people. Therefore, I can barely save money,” said Sarangi, adding, “It is one of the reasons why I have not built a new house as yet. I hope I will be doing it soon,”
Sarangi lives in the house with his sister and brother-in-law following the death of their mother.
“Pratap is not at all interested in building a new house. The old thatched house is not in a good shape anymore. But he is too busy with the people of his constituency,” said Sarangi’s sister Bilasini.
However, the people of Sarangi’s constituency are lavish in their praise for their representative to ‘Dilli Darbar’.
“When other politicians are minting crores through corrupt means and hankering for power, Sarangi’s honesty and integrity makes him stand apart. He has dedicated his life to social work and uplifting the poor. Therefore, he lives like a monk,” said a neighbour of Sarangi.
