JAGATSINGHPUR: Jagatsinghpur district has been a focal point in BJP’s efforts to make inroads in Coastal Odisha in the last five years. The ruling party at the Centre had left no stone unturned to establish a foothold in the district since 2014.
However, as the 2019 elections approach, the path still doesn’t seem easy for the party in the region. Despite having expended much energy through aggressive implementation of developmental projects and Central schemes and launching programmes to woo voters, the BJP doesn’t yet seem to have risen to a strong position in the district.
Lack of organisational base at the grassroots, bitter infighting in the ranks and weak leadership continues to hinder the party’s growth and chances in the four Assembly segments and one Lok Sabha seat.The party’s focus on Jagatsinghpur was exemplified in a grand manner in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Paradip oil refinery on February 7, 2016. There has been no let-up since. Union Petroleum Minister and BJP’s chief ministerial face Dharmendra Pradhan along with various Union ministers have been frequent visitors to the district for launching development projects through the last four years. But they seem to have little impact on the voters.
Around two-thirds of farmers and women in the district said they were aware of Central Government schemes like Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and Ujjwala Yojana. But, they won’t translate into votes, they conceded.
Sanghmitra Jena, a woman leader, said even as almost half of women residing in rural areas have benefited from Ujjwala Yojana, it is doubtful if they will vote for the BJP because of the weak leadership at the local level and lack of coordination among workers at the grassroots.
BJP’s OBC Morcha vice-president and senior party leader Nrusingha Sahu admitted that his party is weak at the grassroots level. Keeping this in view, the party has decided to connect with voters through its ‘Paribartan Rath’.
Sahu also said likely BJP voters have been keeping away from party’s public meetings fearing that their names will be deleted from State’s welfare schemes like KALIA.