BHUBANESWAR: Senior BJP leader and Sambalpur MP Dharmendra Pradhan may have exited the Union cabinet but he seems to be in no mood to retreat from the political centre stage. Instead, he appears to be renewing his grassroots engagement in Odisha to send a pointed message that he remains a force to reckon with in the state’s power equations.
Since resigning as Union education minister on July 25, amid student protests over NEET examination paper leaks, Pradhan has stepped up his political activities in the state. His successive large-scale rallies and public processions, particularly in his parliamentary constituency Sambalpur and neighbouring districts, have attracted considerable attention and fuelled speculation about his future political role.
On Tuesday, he led a massive rally in Sambalpur as part of the BJP’s nationwide ‘Save Democracy, End Anarchy’ campaign against the INDI alliance’s opposition to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Significantly, the BJP government led by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi is yet to organise a comparable rally as part of the campaign.
Earlier, he also spearheaded ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ rallies in Sambalpur, Dhenkanal and Puri districts ahead of Independence Day, projecting nationalist sentiment as a platform for mass mobilisation.
Political observers believe these activities carry a significance beyond party programmes. They come against the backdrop of a power struggle within the Odisha BJP, involving the Pradhan camp on one side and the organisational faction led by state president Manmohan Samal, which is closely aligned with Chief Minister Majhi, on the other.
Pradhan’s back-to-back rallies is viewed as a calculated show of strength. “These rallies are a political message to the groups that he still calls the shots when it comes to Odisha politics,” said senior BJP leader.
The BJP central leadership’s unexpected choice of Majhi, a tribal leader, as chief minister after its historic victory in 2024 ending the BJD’s 24-year rule, had altered the party’s internal power equations. Pradhan even though widely credited with building the BJP’s organisational and electoral strength in Odisha was not given a direct role in the government.
The continuing delay in the appointment of chairpersons to state PSUs and boards, along with the pending cabinet expansion even after more than two years of BJP rule, has exposed the party’s internal differences. Party insiders believe the central leadership is conscious of the factional tensions which have complicated organisational and political decisions.
Meanwhile, speculation about Pradhan’s possible return to the Union cabinet in an impending reshuffle has also gathered momentum.
“Pradhan is a fighter but also a disciplined leader who knows the Lakshman Rekha. His stature is such that neither the state nor the central leadership can afford to ignore him. He is biding his time without giving the impression that he is in a hurry to return to centre stage,” said a senior BJP leader who knows him from his ABVP days.