Poll helps reunite Odisha man with kin

Even as the May 12 Assembly election sparked off the most unexpected of unions at the political level, for one man in a remote village in Karnataka they resulted in a joyous reunion with his family in Odisha.

Two years ago, 40-year-old Bikram Dalai, who had been separated from his family, wandered into Hunusenahalli village in Chickballapur district. Unable to communicate in any language other than Odia, the mentally challenged Mr. Dalai tried in vain to give details of his family to the villagers, who only knew Kannada.

The owner of a local eatery offered him a job, with food and accommodation thrown in. And there Mr. Dalai stayed till the elections this year brought in another set of strangers to Hunusenahalli.

In April, a battalion of CRPF was posted to the village on election duty. And one of the soldiers, Rajkishore Malik, was from Odisha. On learning of Mr. Dalai’s plight, Mr. Malik spoke to him and sent Mr. Dalai’s photograph and details to his friend Tarini Kumar Patnaik, a volunteer with the Indian Red Cross in Jajpur district of Odisha. Mr Patnaik then traced Mr. Dalai’s family in Marutikar village in Kumbhirgadia panchayat of the (Jajpur) district.

He facilitated a video call from the family to Mr. Dalai, who was overjoyed on seeing and speaking to his elderly parents, wife and two children. After this confirmation, Mr. Patnaik, through the Odisha chapter of the Red Cross, coordinated with its Karnataka counterpart and arranged for Mr. Dalai to return to his family.