Campaign pamphlets are eminently disposable. They are usually discarded the moment a candidate leaves. However, in a remote panchayat of Odisha’s Kalahandi district, they are set to be the harbinger of good fortune. Voters are not throwing away pamphlets handed out by sarpanch candidate Sasmita Naik in Kuhura panchayat under Golamunda block of Kalahandi. They are preserving the pamphlets till March 13, when Ms. Naik says she will hold a lottery for which the pamphlets, carrying separate serial numbers, will be the coupons.
The first prize in the lottery is 10 gm of gold, followed by a refrigerator, 10 gm of silver, a washing machine, ten mobile phones, ten ceiling fans, 50 grinders, 50 pressure cookers, and 1,000 cotton sarees.
“Our opponents are spending huge money in the elections paying bribes, throwing feasts and giving wine. We could not match their financial muscle. We came up with idea to hold a lottery if my wife went on to win the election,” Ms. Naik’s husband, Binod Naik, said.
They had barely distributed their campaign pamphlets in some villages when the idea went viral. Ms. Naik’s well-wishers alerted her that the idea could attract the wrath of the State Election Commission, which may treat it as a violation of the model code of conduct.
“We are not distributing pamphlets printed with various prizes any more. The Opposition camps snatched the pamphlets from us,” Ms. Naik said.
According to an announcement by them, the lottery will be held at the Kuhura panchayat ground at 10.30 a.m. on March 13. As many as 1,200 prizes are up for grabs. Consolation prizes include five footballs and five cricket balls.
“We may scale down the lottery size, but we will surely respect our commitment,” Mr. Binod Naik said.
The ongoing panchayat elections have witnessed blatant attempts to bribe voters. A candidate, the husband of a sitting MLA in Ganjam district, was seen swearing in the name of god that he would spend ₹3 lakh from the MLA local area development fund in a village. Similarly, a sitting MLA in Nabarangpur district was seen carrying a large number of sarees in his car for distributing among voters.
