BHUBANESWAR: With the regional parties up against a relentless onslaught by BJP, which is becoming increasingly evident in the State’s neighbours like West Bengal and Telangana, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has pulled out a potent weapon from his arsenal - Odia pride and identity.
The BJD supremo on Friday signalled that he is ready to take the growing influence of BJP head on with a new brand of politics invoking strong regionalism. At the state executive meeting of party’s youth wing BYJD here, Naveen asserted Odisha’s linguistic identity as well as religious and cultural uniqueness of the State. The departure from his earlier held positions was clear - it is between ‘us’ (BJD representing the identity and aspirations of Odias) and ‘them’ (national parties BJP and Congress).
“History has shown us that national parties always have a mainstreaming agenda through which they can maximise votes and wish to form a government at Centre,” he said and added, “For this their strategy revolves around uniform language - Hindi, uniform culture, uniform policies which will appeal to the large populous states and then impose the same across the country ignoring the unique identity of certain populations.” If the saffron party is pushing its Ek Rashtra, Ek Bhasha agenda, the BJD boss made it amply clear he is ready to take the big bull by its horns.
“For us, our language Odia is more important than Hindi. For us, our Mahanadi is more sacred than any other river. For us, Odissi music is a classical art form. For us, Kosali and Ho are mainstream languages. For us, the rich diversity of our tribal population is our pride. For us, Sambalpuri handloom is world-class,” he stated .National parties are bound to compromise on the distinctive requirements of a state for gains in the larger national context, he told the young leaders.
BJD which rode on the legacy of the legendary Biju Patnaik has, for some time, been preparing for the change. After the 2019 elections, the party has been shaping the ‘Odisha Mo Parivar’ campaign as part of which it created several verticals and entrusted young and senior leaders specific tasks. Most of it had to work out a clear political blueprint for the regional outfit which would appeal to a large youth voter base, the same one that swears by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Only a regional party will do justice for the aspirations of the youth of Odisha. Only a regional party will preserve Odisha’s unique identity. Otherwise, the mainstreaming national parties will make you a small drop in their vast ocean,” he said.
The BJD as a regional party stands for preserving and promoting the unique identity of Odisha, he said, asserting, “We don’t have any bosses in Delhi. Our bosses are the four and half crore people of Odisha. We have to impress only the people of Odisha and will continue to fight for their rights.”
Naveen exhorted the youth workers and leaders to spread out to the nook and corner of the State to spread this message among the people. And gave them a new slogan - ‘Biju Janata Dal - Odisha Basinka Bal (Strength of Odisha’s people).