Making a shift from boardroom to the heat and dust of electoral battlefield

BJD leader Santrupt Misra, with a net worth of ₹461 crore, quit his high-profile job to embark on a political journey

It has been a marked shift for Santrupt Misra, who took voluntary retirement from his high-flying corporate job to embark on a political career.

The business attire of suit and boots has been replaced with kurta, pyjama, sleeveless jacket, and chappal. He is no longer surrounded by business executives, board members, and consultants. Instead, political activists and those aspiring to gain from his political journey have descended at his residence in Cuttack, far away from his cosy home in Mumbai.

Mr. Misra, 58, joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the ruling party in Odisha, earlier this year “to serve the people of my home State”. He is the BJD candidate for the Cuttack Lok Sabha constituency, which goes to the polls on May 25.

Mr. Misra, who grew up in Odisha, was the CEO, Birla Carbon; Director, Chemicals; and Director, Group Human Resources for the Aditya Birla Group.

A close confidant of chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, Mr. Misra declared assets worth ₹461 crore in his nomination affidavit. His annual income in the financial year 2022-2023 stood at over ₹66 crore.

Mr. Mishra told The Hindu that he could have continued earning for himself but he was confronted with several questions on the purpose of life and what would provide him utmost satisfaction.

“I wanted to make a larger contribution beyond being confined to a single organisation, to work with more diverse sections of people who are very different from what I saw in the corporate world,” he said.