The sparring between the BJP and the ruling BJD over who is who winning the next Assembly polls in Odisha has suddenly made politics in the state lively. The one-upmanship by each party is keeping the media veritably engaged after many years.
With BJP chief Amit Shah announcing the party’s mission to grab 120-plus seats out of 147 in the 2019 Assembly elections, the saffron brigade has launched an unprecedented offensive to take on the regional outfit’s might. Not to be outsmarted, the Naveen Patnaik army is giving it back in equal measure. But Shah’s two visits in the last three months have not only left the State BJP charged up, it has set the tone for a fierce political duel in the days to come.
If BJP has snapped at BJD over corruption, lack of development and inability to spend Central funds, the regional party has hit back with accusations of Central negligence and inadequate financial support. Both sides have been reeling off statistics to make their points.
Similarly, every barb of BJP at Naveen Patnaik is returned with one at Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the saffron party’s most popular face in the State. If BJP tried to drag Naveen into the chit fund scam by questioning the alleged links of the BJD chief’s personal aide Saroj Sahu, the State government went after Pradhan’s brother over alleged irregularities in his LPG agency.
It has gone personal too. After Shah took potshots at Naveen saying BJD is driven by dynastic politics just like Congress, the ruling party, unwilling to yield any ground, returned the favour by asking what the BJP thought of Pradhan whose father Debendra Pradhan was an Union minister in the NDA government under Atal Behari Vajpayee.
While belligerence has been a trademark of BJP’s politics, the BJD which swears by “political grace and courteousness” of Naveen has not forgotten to bare its teeth either. Much as the BJD bosses may deny, for the first time, the ruling outfit has found its match in BJP. Given Shah’s track record in past elections, his claims are bound to be worrisome for the regional party and it is already showing signs of being shaken.
For four successive terms, Naveen has been ruling with authority, tiding over anti-incumbency factor. While a weak Congress came in handy for him, fact remains that the opposition failed to project a leader who could match the former’s stature or could take him on.
Now, the BJP is sensing a change and a chance. Riding on the Modi magic and a strong showing in panchayat elections in the State, the party has taken the second spot squandered by a rift-riddled Congress bent upon self-destruction. The flurry of political activities has kept the saffron outfit way ahead of the grand old party.
After the collapse of a flyover in the State capital on September 10 that killed one and left 12 injured, the BJD government was hit with a barrage of questions since Naveen himself is the Works Minister and at least three bridges had collapsed under his watch in the recent past. So when Congress took up the matter and moved an adjournment motion notice in the just-concluded monsoon session of the Assembly, the ruling party was wary.
Though a time was fixed for the Chief Minister to reply to the admissibility of the notice, the dramatic turn of events that followed astonished all. The sudden volte face of the Congress legislators, who were baying for Naveen’s blood two days ago in the House, for reasons best known to them launched a vociferous protest in the House over fuel price hike completely sidestepping the important flyover mishap.
What was difficult to fathom was the sudden realisation of the BJD and Congress about the fuel price hike, which has been on the rise steadily for the last three months, at a time when other pressing matters were there. What were the two parties doing all along? And why did Congress which created a ruckus on the mishap lose interest on the matter? An open discussion on the flyover collapse had all the possibility of pushing the BJD to the wall but the Congress squandered the opportunity and instead trained its gun at something else.
What was the reason? BJD too clearly tried to deflate the issue but what followed when the party converted the demonstration programme to a five-hour hartal over the fuel price hike was a serious loss of face and faith of the people. The desperate strategy backfired for the ruling party. Although the BJD chief later gave his leaders a dressing down for the gross mismanagement, the damage was done. Much of the goodwill the party had garnered after the successful hosting of Asian Athletics Championships was lost.
Now the arrest of party MLA Pravat Ranjan Biswal has given BJP a fresh opportunity to go after BJD. While it has once again targetted BJP, accusing it of using CBI as a political weapon, the latter has hit back questioning the ruling party’s changed stand on its leaders accused in the chit fund scam.
Never in the last 17 years was the political plot so interestingly poised in Odisha. So potent was Naveen Patnaik’s magic that he singlehandedly took apart all opposition and made BJD an impregnable force for four consecutive terms.
Congress was decimated and BJP was left licking its wounds after the royal dumping in 2009. The BJD supremo could almost have said to himself: Veni, vidi, vici.. Will there be a twist in the tale? To draw a conclusion would be too premature at this point but these are interesting times for sure.
Srimoy Kar
Resident Editor, Odisha
Email: srimoy@newindianexpress.com