Doctors in fray fuel poll fever Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: Having honed their expertise in diagnosing and treating ailments, there are a few doctors in Odisha who would be hoping they have a finger on the pulse of public opinion as they prepare to slug it out in the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in the state.

At least three senior doctors and professors of the prestigious SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack have applied for voluntary retirement after they were nominated by political parties as candidates for the upcoming polls.

While SCB superintendent as well as professor and head of its surgery department, Dr Pratap Kumar Rath, has been named as the BJP's candidate for the Nilgiri Assembly seat in Balasore district, Dr Rajashri Mallick, assistant professor of pathology, has been handed a ticket by the ruling BJD for the Tirtol Assembly seat in Jagatsinghpur district.

BJP has fielded another SCB hand, assistant professor of medicine Nepol Raghu Murmu, as its candidate for the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat. The party has put up Dr Kulamani Samal as its candidate for the Jagatsinghpur parliamentary constituency.

Murmu has filed his nomination after resigning from his official post, sources said.

Meanwhile, renowned gynaecologist and a retired professor of VSS Medical College and Hospital, Burla, Dr Raseswari Panigrahi, has been named as the BJD candidate for the Sambalpur Assembly constituency.

She is the sister of veteran Congress leader and former MP, Sriballav Panigrahi.

But doctors of SCB Medical College and Hospital taking part in politics is nothing new.

Dr Pramod Mallick, the former head of its surgery department, is a sitting BJD MLA from Niali constituency in Cuttack district.

However, Mallick's fate is so far undecided for this Assembly poll battle as BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik is yet to announce the party's candidate for the Niali seat.

Niali is among the two Assembly segments for which the ruling BJD is yet to name a candidate.

Previously, Dr Kamala Das was elected to the Assembly from Bhogarai under the leadership of the late Biju Patnaik and also served as a minister.

She was also a minister in the Naveen Patnaik Cabinet for about two years.

BJD has also named Dr Priyanshu Pradhan as its candidate for the Chhatrapur Assembly segment in Ganjam.

The 14th Assembly in Odisha incidentally has four doctors ---- Dr Nrushingha Sahu (Perjung), Dr RC Chyupattnaik (Berhampur), Dr Pramod Mallick (Niali) of BJD and Dr Prafulla Majhi (Talsara) of Congress. Apart from the above, there is Dr Damodar Rout, a veterinary doctor.

With the exception of Mallick, all the other doctor- turned-MLAs have been renominated as candidates by their parties.