Laxman Bag, who defeated the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo and outgoing chief minister Naveen Patnaik in the Kantabanji Assembly seat of Bolangir district, western Odisha, feels “everyone needs to dream”.

Bag, who emerged as the giant killer, secured 90,876 votes against Naveen’s 74,532, thus securing a margin of 16,344 votes.

Naveen contested from Kantabanji in addition to his traditional seat, Hinjili, where he won by 4,636 votes.

Naveen, who had never faced defeat since his entry into politics in 1997 as an MP from Aska in Ganjam district, accepted the shocking defeat with humility. He had earlier experimented with the formula of contesting from two seats in 2019, and it was successful. But this time, it backfired.

Bag, who started his career as a labourer at the age of 13, told The Telegraph: “I have studied till Class XII. Whatever I am today, it’s because of my hard work and the blessings of the people.”

On being asked about the reaction when Naveen Patnaik was declared the candidate from the BJD against him, Bag said: “I was not perturbed or nervous. I had nothing to lose. It was a prestige issue for me to lock horns with Naveen. While Naveen had all the
resources at his command, I had the support of the people of Kanatabanji. We silently campaigned in our area from door to door. As I am from the area and have been with them for the last 20 years, it all worked for me. The Opposition fails to read it.”

Naveen was so confident of his victory that he hardly campaigned in this constituency and left it to the BJD party workers to campaign for him.

When asked if he aspires to become a minister in the newly formed BJP government in the state, Bag said: “It’s the party to decide. I love to see dreams. My dream is different from others. I want to develop Kanatabanji, known for its people migrating to other areas in search of jobs.”

Bag, who hails from a small village in the Kantabanji constituency, said: “At the age of 13, I started to work as a labourer. Then I worked as a truck helper and later as a truck driver. My father sold our land and purchased a truck for me in 1994. I started driving my own truck until 2000. Later, we purchased a few more trucks. Since 2000, we have never looked back. Now I recall my parents, who are no more.”

Kantabanji is known for its poverty and migration. “Nearly 1.5 lakh people from the area have migrated to other parts of the country to work as a coolie — either at brick kilns in Telangana or construction sites in other states. They all have been forced to migrate as there is no scope to work here. I need to work something on this front. God has given me an opportunity and I want to utilise it.”

Every year, thousands of people from Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi and other parts of western Odisha migrate to different parts of the state, particularly to southern Odisha, to work as labourers.

Bag contested the 2014 and 2019 elections but was unsuccessful in both attempts to enter the Odisha Legislative Assembly.