BHUBANESWAR: As the debacle of BJP in the Hindi heartland in the recently concluded Assembly polls and the party’s comprehensive defeat in the neighbouring Chhattisgarh have kindled hope of a Congress revival in Western Odisha districts, the State leadership of the grand old party has its task cut out before it.
The political developments in Chhattisgarh have no doubt put a brake on the plans of many Congress leaders in Western Odisha to quit the party. But political observers believe that the Congress has still a long way to go before it can cash in on the anti-incumbency factor against the 19-year-old Naveen Patnaik Government and transfer it to votes.
Though BJD leaders maintain that a Congress revival will benefit the regional outfit in Western Odisha, the campaign launched by BJP in the area for the last one year cannot be ignored altogether. Though BJP had a presence in the Western Odisha since 1985, the party strengthened its base after 2000 when it fought elections as an alliance partner of the BJD and the State leadership of the saffron party is confident of a good show from the area in the 2019 Assembly polls.
However, while the number of Congress MLAs from the undivided districts of Balangir, Kalahandi and Sambalpur has decreased in every elections since 1980, the BJP’s growth in the area has been more prominent. Congress had 27 members in the Assembly from the three undivided Western Odisha districts which came down to 21 in 1985. Both the time, there was Congress Government in the State.
When the Congress returned to power in Odisha in 1995, the number of MLAs from the three districts decreased to 12 and the Southern Odisha districts contributed 13 members to the party’s kitty. Congress members in the 15th Assembly has now come down to only two.
The BJP made its debut in the Assembly from Kamakhyanagar constituency in 1985. In the 1990 polls, though BJP had two members in the Assembly, its representation from Western Odisha was only one from Kalahandi district. While the number of BJP MLAs from Western Odisha was four in 1995, their number increased to six in 2014 elections.
Will the 2019 elections see a fight for supremacy between Congress and BJP in Western Odisha districts, or the BJD will dominate the scene as it has done for the last four terms? Political observers are of the opinion that it is too early to make a prediction in this regard.