BHUBANESWAR : By handing over the reins of the state BJP to Manmohan Samal as president for a fourth term, the central leadership has gone with the natural choice.
He has earned his stripes. He steered the party to an emphatic victory in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly in 2024 and enabled the BJP to form its first government in Odisha by ending the 24-year rule of BJD. More than that, the 20 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats won by the party in Odisha enabled the BJP to again form the NDA government at the Centre.
Samal was the only leader from the state who stood firm against the idea of having an alliance with the BJD ahead of 2024 elections and managed to successfully persuade the central leadership to go solo, by assuring them a victory for BJP. Which he proved, by achieving what most considered almost impossible.
At the same time, by retaining Samal at the helm of state affairs, the central leadership has sent out a strong message that unity in the party is of paramount importance, and factionalism in any form will not be tolerated. Besides, the party and the government should be well in sync with each other.
Samal’s selection over other aspirants has come at a time when the Mohan Charan Majhi government, which completed one year in office last month, requires strong support from the party to fulfil the promises made to the people and successfully implement the Odisha Vision Document for Viksit Odisha by 2036. Samal fits the bill as he has developed a very cordial relationship with the chief minister and both are meeting at regular intervals to sort out crucial governance issues.
The caste factor also played a big part in his selection. “Almost all the factors for selection of the state president were in favour of Samal, except age. The party is promoting young leadership but Samal at 66 is not too old. Being a prominent OBC face, he topped the list as other aspirants belong to upper castes,” a senior BJP leader said.
With OBC constituting more than 52 per cent of the state’s population, the party was in search of an OBC leader to lead the party after election of a tribal leader as chief minister. There was no visible OBC leader other than Samal to take up the gigantic responsibility, he said.