The next year is going to witness hectic political activities as the BJD and the Opposition political parties get ready for the general elections which is likely to be advanced. The urban body polls, scheduled in 2013, will be a rehearsal for the political parties for the next big thing, the Assembly elections.
While senior leaders of the BJD, including ministers and MLAs, are spending most of their time in their constituencies after getting hints from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik that the polls will be advanced, the Congress and the Odisha Jana Morcha (OJM) have also started prepararing for polls. The Congress has already started the process for selection of candidates.
The Odisha Day on April 1 would be the day of the Odisha Jana Morcha (OJM) as it would be converted to a new party, OJM chairman Pyarimohan Mohapatra said while talking about the roadmap of the organisation during the next year. As there will be only a year left for elections if it is held in the right time, the Morcha will be in campaigning from day one. Preparation of the party manifesto and byelaws of the political party is going on simultaneously, he said and added that the manifesto would be worked out basing on the ideals of the organisation announced on October 19.
Pyarimohan said that the OJM would pose itself as the third alternative in the State and enjoy a pre-eminent position contrary to what Naveen Patnaik and his ‘servants’ think. The Rajya Sabha MP said that the membership drive of the OJM had been intensified and it had set a target to enroll more than 25 lakh members by March end.
The deadline given to Naveen and his leaders would expire on March 31, Pyarimohan said and added that he would wait till the deadline before launching new party. Instead of improvement of the situation in the BJD, it is deteriorating, he said, but added that if a miracle happens and Naveen reforms, which is quite unlikely, then there will be no need to float the new party.
Another possibility is that a majority of 27 lakh BJD workers join OJM, the Rajya Sabha MP said, adding that in this scenario there would be no need to float the party as it would be under the Morcha’s control. Pyarimohan said that the OJM would organise a workers’ conference at Jeypore on January 15 followed by a rally at Sambalpur in the second forthight of February. The last bid rally of the Morcha would be held at Berhampur in the second fortnight of March, he said.
The process of organisation polls of BJD will be over on January 28 when the president of the party will be elected.
Similarly, the Congress will start 2013 with extended executive committee meeting on January 4 to decide the strategy for muncipal polls and discuss the broad outlines of issues before 2014 polls.