Odisha Panchayat Polls: From A Former Airhostess To Zilla Parishad Candidate

Baripada: From engineers to doctors, several young faces are contesting the gram panchayat elections in Odisha this time.

And a former airhostess…

Bijaylaxmi Mohanta (28), a former airhostess with IndiGo, is contesting for the post of zilla parishad member from Zone 31 of Bijatala block in Mayurbhanj district.

Bijaylaxmi, who is from Rairangpur, says she drew inspiration from her grandfather Rabindranath Mohanta, a former district BJP president, to join politics. “A lot of my childhood was spent with him. As I grew up, I too became interested in serving the society and people,” she said, who is being supported by the BJP.

After her matriculation in 2008, Bijaylaxmi joined the Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training here to pursue Aviation Hospitality and Travel Management.

She joined IndiGo in 2014 and was based in New Delhi. She quit in 2020, the year the pandemic struck, after which she tried her luck in television, acting in a few Odia serials.

Housing and better mobile connectivity are two issues she wants to focus on if elected.

“The benefits of housing schemes are only going to people who work for the BJD. I want to ensure only eligible and deserving people get houses under government schemes,” she said.

On mobile connectivity, she said, “Villagers are facing a lot of problems now and even unable to call the police and ambulance during emergencies because of poor mobile network.”