'Then software engineer, now social engineer': Technocrats in fray in Odisha elections

Their professions might be different, however, some highly qualified professionals, technocrats and academically brilliant persons have thrown their hats into the ring for the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Odisha to 'serve people'.

Barabati-Cuttack seat

Meet MLA Mohammed Moquim’s daughter Sofia Firdous who has filed her nomination from the Barabati-Cuttack Assembly seat as a Congress candidate.

Sofia is highly educated and an engineer by profession. She has been doing real estate business for years and she is currently the chairperson of the Metro Group. She is the first woman president of CREDAI Bhubaneswar and also its east zone coordinator.

According to Sofia, she is contesting the upcoming Assembly election to accomplish the unfulfilled dreams of her father.

"I know the people of the constituency as I have been working closely with my father for some years. The only difference is that I was requesting people to vote for my father in the past, but now my father is requesting people to vote for me," said Sofia.

"My father has tirelessly worked to serve the people of the constituency over the last five years. I am confident that it will yield good results for me," she said.

Meanwhile, renowned gynaecologist and a retired professor from the SCB Medical College and Hospital - Dr. Purna Chandra Mohapatra is BJP's candidate for the Barabati-Cuttack Assembly seat. He has been in the medical profession for the last 30 years and carved a niche for himself not only in Odisha but also in the country and abroad.

"People have known me for the last thirty years. I don't want to compare myself with anybody. I want to show my strength and make people aware of the ideal governance by the BJP," said Mohapatra.

Dhamnagar Assembly seat 

Meanwhile, the Dhamnagar Assembly seat will witness a tough fight between three young candidates, who are highly qualified professionals. 

The sitting MLA and BJP candidate Suraj Suryavanshi is a B-Tech degree holder. Following his father Bishnu Sethi's footsteps, Suryavanshi has been active in politics since 2019.

"Earlier, I was doing a job as a software engineer. Now I am working as a social engineer. Power should not go to one's head. A leader should always remember that he is here to serve the people and he should work accordingly," said Suryavanshi.

Suryavanshi's opponent will be BJD's Sanjay Das, who is an MBBS doctor. Das has left his lucrative job to try his luck in politics.

"I was serving the patients as a doctor and now I am serving the people in politics. I am also serving patients after joining politics," said Das.

Meanwhile, Congress has nominated Ranjan Behera as its candidate for the seat. Ranjan is an MBA student. He will debut as an MLA candidate after contesting in the Panchayat elections.

"We will fight tooth and nail to make Congress victorious in Bhadrak district and Dhamnagar Assembly seat in the upcoming election," said Behera.