BJD's Chandrani Murmu set to become youngest ever Lok Sabha MP

Bhubaneswar: From a B Tech student to Member of Parliament elect, Chandrani Murmu's journey so far is nothing less than a fairy tale. At the age of 25 years and 11 months, Chandrani is all set to create history by becoming the youngest Lok Sabha member ever.

Few months ago, she was just like any other girl trying to build her life by preparing for competitive exams but a sudden change of fate has brought significant changes in her life.

Chandrani, who has won the Keonjhar Lok Sabha seat (reserved for Scheduled Tribes) on BJD ticket by defeating two-time BJP MP Ananta Nayak with a margin of 66,203 votes, will soon enter country’s highest legislative body.

On her new course of life, Chandrani says that after completing her B. Tech from Bhubaneswar-based SOA University in 2017, she had been on the lookout for a decent government job in the engineering sector.

According to her, a few months ago, her uncle insisted that she should contest the Lok Sabha polls from her home constituency, however, since none of her family members had been active in politics for past few decades, she did not realise the importance. However, out of the blue, she was selected as the Lok Sabha candidate of BJD from Keonjhar constituency and the rest is history.

"When I was continuing my studies, I had never thought that I would enter politics in this way, but yes I had a gut feeling that if offered I would never hesitate to make it my career," said Chandrani.

She added, “I owe my success to the people and thank the party supremo and CM Naveen Patnaik for my achievement. Since I have been given such a huge responsibility, I will try to fulfil my duties with best of my abilities.”

Dushyant Chautala, grandson of well-known Haryana politician Om Prakash Chautalapreviously held the record of being the youngest Lok Sabha member when he was selected to the Lower House of the Parliament in 2014 election.

On her success, BJP leader Tejasvi Surya tweeted, “I congratulate BJD's Chandrani Murmu on having won LS polls from Keonjhar, Odisha. At 25, she is youngest member of this LS. Best part is she isn't a dynast. So heartening to see young & educated women taking leadership roles. Look forward to working with her.”