Bhubaneswar, April 3: In a significant development in South Odisha’s political landscape, both the Gamango and Pangi families found themselves excluded from the race for Congress tickets.
Former Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang, along with his wife Hema and son Shishir, rejoined the Congress in January after leaving the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
Despite their efforts, the Congress has denied them tickets for the upcoming elections.
Giridhar Gamang, who served as Odisha’s Chief Minister from February 1999 to December 1999, had previously switched parties, joining the BJP in May 2015 and later the BRS in January 2023.
Shishir, Giridhar’s son, had contested the 2019 assembly election from Gunupur on a BJP ticket but was unsuccessful.
Hema, who won the Koraput Lok Sabha seat on a Congress ticket in 1999 and was elected from the Gunupur assembly constituency in 2004, also faced ticket denial.
A senior tribal leader and former MP, Jayaram Pangi, currently holds the chairman post of the Congress ST cell.
Despite his position, neither he nor any of his family members secured a Congress ticket.
Jayaram Pangi had previously been a Minister in the BJD government and won the Lok Sabha seat from Koraput.
His recent switch to the Congress did not translate into ticket allocation for him or his family members.
This situation marks a setback for both the Gamango and Pangi families, who have navigated party affiliations over the years, only to find themselves without a ticket in this crucial election.
