A 1,500-km walk to meet PM Narendra Modi

I voted for him in 2014, so I wanted to remind him about the promise he had made — this is the simple thought that made Muktikanta Biswal, an idol maker from Sundargarh district of Odisha, walk 1,500 kilometres to Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Biswal passed through the jungles of Jharkhand, slept at dhabas, visited schools, fell sick in Agra, walked an extra 250 kilometres after being misguided by people in Varanasi — all to see upgrade of the Ispat General Hospital in Rourkela.

He embarked on his journey on April 15 from Rourkela and walked for 71 days. Once in Delhi, he sat on dharna at Janpath and then fast at Ramlila Maidan only to end it all and return disappointed on July 5. “I was removed from Ramlila Maidan by the Delhi Police saying I should end my fast. I was admitted to LNJP hospital and at 2 am they came and said I should leave Delhi. When I said I am not breaking any laws, they said there was too much pressure from above,” Biswal claims.

He took an auto in the dead if the night and came to Jagannath Mandir in Hauz Khas. He slept and the next morning broke his fast. He took the Rajdhani train the next day to return to Bhubaneswar.


THE CAUSE
Biswal returned home to a hero’s welcome. “I think people are celebrating it like a victory. They think that I took up a cause — their cause,” he says. But why is the hospital so important that he walked.

“Every other day, somebody falls sick and my friends or I have to take them to the hospital. It has no facilities and I think about 3 crore people across districts depend on it. If you have money, you can take a patient to Cuttack or Bhubaneswar, but almost the entire population around Rourkela depends on this hospital,” he says adding: “I thought what if I fall sick? Or my mother has to be taken to this hospital — that it could happen to me made me take this up. I wanted to remind Modi ji about his promise.”

During his campaign in the run-up to the 2014 parliamentary elections, Modi promised that the general hospital would be upgraded to a super-speciality hospital, said Biswal. A year later on April 1, 2015, the PM addressed a rally where, according to Biswal, he said, “When I made the promise I was not the Prime Minister. Now that you have elected me to the post, I have come to tell you that as I promised, my government has decided to upgrade the Ispat General Hospital into a medical college-cum-superspeciality hospital.”

BUT WHY WALK?
“I am a poor idol maker. I thought who would listen to me? But I realised if I were to walk and on the way tell people about this hospital, maybe they would take note,” he says.

THE JOURNEY
Biswal took a friend’s help to chart out an itinerary. “I have a friend who does all-India tours on a bike every year. I took his help. He made a map for me.” His family was opposed to the idea. “They thought I was crazy. Who walks to the capital? They wondered. My father said I would be all alone and anything could happen,” he remembers. But on April 15, he left his home without telling them. They were worried, but then asked him to be careful.

Initially, people thought Biswal was crazy. But as he went along, people understood he was doing this for a cause. Biswal fell sick in Agra and had to be admitted in a local hospital. “It was then that the local media noticed me. When news appeared that I wanted to meet Modi ji, the Congress took up my issue,” he says.

THE POLITICAL SLUGFEST
And that is how a 1,500 kilometre walk became an issue of BJP-Congress slugfest. The Congress started an online petition for crowdfunding the super-speciality hospital. Congress social media cell in-charge Divya Spandana said: “Congress president Rahul Gandhi came up with the idea that we must help this man who was walking to Delhi. So, we started this online campaign and now we have collected Rs 20 lakh.” The Odisha Congress has sought an appointment with Modi to donate that money for Biswal’s cause.

But this wasn’t Biswal’s plan. “People say that Rahul Gandhi made me walk till Delhi. All this is just a gimmick. But I know no party has done anything for my district. Neither the BJP nor Congress. They didn’t do anything, that is why I have had to take this fight up myself.”

Union petroleum minister and BJP leader from Odisha Dharmendra Pradhan, meanwhile, denied the Congress accusation. In a tweet last month, Pradhan said Rs 200 crore had already been allotted for the hospital and a detailed project report submitted. “@ RahulGandhi’s Fake News Factory manufactures a new lie … when has Rahul ever bothered about facts! Interesting to see a new scam in form of fund-raising,” he tweeted in response to Gandhi’s tweet about the PM’s promise and the Congress’ crowdfunding plan.

THE ROAD AHEAD
Now that he has returned, Biswal is charting the course of action. “I made a mistake,” he says, “I went alone. But now I am talking to my friends and family. I don’t want this to remain unfinished. I want to meet Modi ji and tell him one thing — I walked and on the way when I told people that I am going to ask our Prime Minister for help, they said that they have started doubting his promises. I want to tell him that we had high hopes from him and he should know.”

The 30-year-old now wants to return to Delhi and start a dharna or a fast with his friends. “I will be back,” he promises.