Pratap Chandra Sarangi: We live in a time where ministers get a sarkari ride (car) as big as a house on public-funded money or wear t-shirts worth Rs 40,000 to a rally. Well, we have all the right to generalise because that is how it is. However, there are exceptions. Meet Bharatiya Janata Party's Pratap Chandra Sarangi, a politician with a different view of life. Sarangi, a 64-year-old leader, lives in a mud house and rides a bicycle to work. He was earlier a minister of state in PM Modi's cabinet.
A close associate of the former minister said Sarangi has requested the government that a mud house — just like the one where he stayed in his hometown — be made on the premise of the house that has been allotted to him by Centre. Honouring his request, work has already begun on the house.
The mud bricks, which are being used to construct the foundation of the structure are being brought from outside since they are not readily available in Delhi. The construction of the mud house involved no use of cement and iron. When India TV spoke to sources close to the minister, the construction work has already been on for 20 days and would get over by the end of September.
The mud house will have two rooms, a washroom, and a dressing room. Even the beds and the almirahs would be made of mud bricks. According to sources, the minister, too, is helping out in the process of building the foundation of the house. All the items that are being used to construct the house are recyclable and reusable. If the minister shifts elsewhere anytime soon, the house can be moved without any distress.
Who is Sarangi
Sarangi calls himself a footsoldier of Modi and attributes all his wins to integrity and simple living. Pratap Chandra Sarangi has been head-to-head in polls with several top candidates, including BJD MP Rabindra Jena and Nabajyoti Patnaik, son of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Nirajan Patnaik. He was elected MLA twice from Nilgiri in 2004 and 2009 but was defeated in 2014 when he contested from the Balasore constituency.
