Dr. Purna Chandra Mohapatra is the BJP’s candidate for the Cuttack-Barabati Assembly seat
| Photo Credit: BISWARANJAN ROUT
After attending to sufferers, a few of whom have come from Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, until the night on Thursday, Dr. Purna Chandra Mohapatra, a retired professor from the SCB Medical College, Cuttack, lastly sat for lunch. It is not unusual for the mustachioed doctor to have lunch this late as his breaks rely on the size of the queue outdoors his chamber.
Dr. Mohapatra, 68, a renowned gynaecologist, is the BJP’s candidate for the Cuttack-Barabati Assembly seat. For many years, he has needed to make do with solely three to 4 hours of sleep as patientcare stored him busy. It nonetheless does. People recall events when quite a few ladies would line up for session at odd hours, at the same time as late as 1 a.m., outdoors his nursing house in Sector eight of Cuttack’s CDA Colony. The doctor doesn’t cost any price for outpatient providers.
After the BJP fielded Dr. Mohapatra in the Assembly election on Thursday, political observers in the State started questioning if his transition into politics could be at the price of patientcare. Replacing a busy gynaecologist, whose appointment diary is at all times full, can be troublesome. Patients e book slots for surgical procedure two months in advance and a few wait in a single day to safe a session for the subsequent day.
When The Hindu requested Dr. Mohapatra why he was leaving a flourishing observe for politics, he stated, “I have dedicated my life to patientcare. Now, it is time to serve society in a broader capacity as a policymaker. With decades of experience under my belt, I want to bring about systemic improvements, especially in healthcare.”
Though he has associates and admirers throughout political events, Dr. Mohapatra has chosen the BJP in order to align with a nationwide occasion.
The saffron occasion too is banking on his recognition. Dr. Mohapatra had been a president of the Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecological Society of India, considered one of Asia’s largest skilled our bodies. He has spearheaded a number of innovation initiatives for ladies’s well being in India, together with gynaecological endoscopy. His affected person register says he has handled 1.40 lakh sufferers since 2019 with over 41,500 ladies in Cuttack district.
Asked if his decades-long medical observe would translate into votes, Dr. Mohapatra stated, “I have no idea how to get votes. But I am sure the goodwill I have earned during my career would certainly help.”
Recently, when he toured totally different components of Cuttack district as a part of the BJP’s 100-day membership drive, Dr. Mohapatra was mobbed by ladies who sought medical recommendation. “At Baghei village near Banki in Cuttack district, villagers lined up 20 women and youths. They told me they were alive because of me. What could be a bigger reward than this?” he stated.