Berhampur: Come elections and members of the conch-blowing community in Ganjam district are in high demand among BJD candidates.The party — which has a conch as its symbol — hires members of the community to familiarize people in the rural areas with the symbol and create an impression among the voters. It also helps the party play on the symbolism of a conch — blown during rituals to invoke divine approbation — in deeply religious Odisha.Normally employed during festivals, the conch-blowers, too, look to earn some extra money during the biggest festival of all — elections. Of the around 20,000 conch-blowers in the district, most are now busy taking part in BJD candidates’ campaigns. What is special about Ganjam’s conch-blowers is that they dance while blowing the conch. Attired in green, the teams of conch-blowers form the head of the candidates’ processions.After electioneering for candidates in Berhampur and Koraput, where the first phase of polls will be held on April 11, the conch-blowers of the district will head to Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack.“We are now engaged in campaigning for BJD candidates in our home district. After completing the first phase of the election, we will move to Jagatsinghpur,” said Rajendra Sahu of Narendrapur, near here.Krutibash Muni, head of the Rameswara Tumula Sankhadhwai in Polasara, said his colleagues had been hired by different candidates of BJD to engage in electioneering in Ganjam.“Poll managers of different candidates want jodi sankha (twin-conch) blowers,” said Niranjan Sahu, manager of Maa Samaleswari Jugala Sankha Dhwani Loka-nurtya Kala Kendra in Narendrapur. “In Ganjam district, almost all BJD candidates engage us conch-blowers for their campaign. We make some extra money during this time,” he added.

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