Upasna Mohapatra (born 1997) is a politician from

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

in India representing the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

. She entered politics following the death of her father, Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, a former MLA of the

Brahmagiri Assembly constituency Brahmagiri is a Vidhan Sabha constituency of Puri district, Odisha, India. This constituency includes Bramhagiri block, Krushnapraad block and 11 Gram panchayats (Kanheibidyadharpur, Gaudakera, Bijaya Ramachandrapur, Pratapramchandrapur, Bir ...

. In the

2024 Odisha Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in the eastern coastal state of Odisha from 2024 elections in India, 13 May to 1 June 2024 to elect the List of constituencies of the Odisha Legislative Assembly, 147 members of the Odisha Legislativ ...

, she was elected as the MLA from the Brahmagiri constituency and became the youngest MLA in Odisha assembly.

Biography

Hailing from

Brahmagiri, Odisha Brahmagiri is a semi-urban town in Puri district, Odisha, India. Geography It is located at at an elevation of 10 m above MSL. Major Attractions Brahmagiri is famous for the Alarnatha Mandira. Hundreds of pilgrims visit the shrine here duri ...

, Mohapatra is the great granddaughter of Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar who pioneered the

Paika rebellion The Paika Rebellion, also known as the Paika Bidroha or Paik Rebellion. It was an early armed rebellion against Company rule in India in 1817. The Paikas rose in rebellion under their leader Bakshi Jagabandhu and projecting Jagannath, Lord Ja ...

in East India which happens to be the very first rebellion against the British empire (1817), much before the Sepoy mutiny (1857). Her political career has been passed on to her from her late father Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra who was a leader of Odisha Congress. She studied in two private schools of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack and pursued higher studies in

Sophia College Sophia College (Autonomous) is an undergraduate women's college established in 1941 by Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is affiliated to the University of Mumbai. The governing body of The Society for the Higher Education of Women in In ...

, Mumbai from 2015. In June 2019, shortly after the announcement of the election results, Upasna got engaged to Mumbai-based businessman Subhransu Sekhar Biswal in a formal ceremony in Bhubaneswar. Subhransu and Upasna tied the knot on 17th February 2021 in an intimate ceremony surrounded by friends and family.

Political career

Although Mohapatra had not confirmed her political career until October 2017 she had been in the limelight after being active in the 2014 general elections and raising her voice in several political and social matters. She has been prominent in the regional media. On 14 October 2017, she joined the BJP under the leadership of

Dharmendra Dharmendra Kewal Krishan Deol (born 8 December 1935), known mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer, and politician who is primarily known for his work in Hindi films. Dharmendra is widely considered one of the greatest, most h ...

Pradhan. She was appointed the state coordinator of BJP in August 2018 and state convener of the 'I support Modi campaign'. She spearheaded the Brahmagiri assembly campaign for her uncle Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra in the 2019 Assembly elections where he took the seat of Brahmagiri and is the current MLA of Brahmagiri Assembly segment. On 16 March 2021 Mohapatra along with around 20 people allegedly roughed up tenants of a house in Nayapalli, Bhubaneswar. Mohapatra was booked for assaulting the tenant and 17 people were arrested over the incident. Later in 2022, the

Odisha High Court The Orissa High Court is the High Court for the Indian state of Odisha. The then Bengal Presidency was a vast province including present day Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal. It was difficult to administratively manage such a ...

quashed the criminal proceedings against her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohapatra, Upasna 1996 births Living people Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Odisha Women members of the Odisha Legislative Assembly Odisha MLAs 2019–2024 21st-century Indian women politicians Odisha MLAs 2024–2029