ROURKELA: A paralysis of sorts has gripped the Congress unit of Bonai in Sundargarh district amid apprehension of the party’s central leadership sacrificing the Assembly seat to CPM in a last-minute arrangement like in the past.
The Congress had given up Bonai's seat to CPM twice in the 2004 and 2019 general elections, leaving its organisation in disarray. Sources said the situation of Congress in Bonai is so precarious now that the grand old party is not getting the support of workers to reconstitute its virtually defunct committees at the grassroots level.
Congress insiders admitted that they are finding it increasingly difficult to rejuvenate the party organisation in Bonai. Local leaders and workers are unwilling to invest energy and time as they strongly feel the Assembly seat would be served to the CPM on a platter. In the last two decades, CPM’s Laxman Munda has won thrice from the seat, either due to an alliance with the Congress or a vertical split in BJP during the elections.
In 1990 and 1995, BJP’s Jual Oram won the seat. In 1997, Bonai witnessed a by-election which was won by Congress’ Janardan Dehuri. While BJP’s Dayanidhi Kishan bagged the seat in 2000, CPM’s Munda emerged as the winner in alliance with the Congress in the 2004 polls.
In the next election in 2009, BJP’s Bhimsen Choudhary won from Bonai. Munda again won in 2014 without support from the Congress. In 2019, the central leadership of Congress left the Bonai seat for CPM helping Munda to register a hat-trick victory with around 12,000 votes.
Party sources said the workers believe that the coalition with CPM has weakened Congress in Bonai. A senior Congress leader said the party’s decision to sacrifice Bonai's seat to CPM was damaging to the morale of workers. Besides, there is also bitter feeling towards the CPM as the latter did not support Congress’ MP candidate in the 2019 polls.
While Congress workers feel former MLA Dehuri would be instrumental in lifting the party’s morale in Bonai, the man himself is not confident. Dehuri refused to comment on the expectations of party workers and said he cannot talk about the possibility of a Congress-CPM alliance.
General secretary of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Biren Senapati said the central leadership will take a decision on the alliance. The party workers should honour whatever decision is taken. In 2019, the Congress had bargained hard to contest from Bonai, but the seat went to CPM as it had a sitting MLA, Senapati added. The mineral-rich Bonai has around two lakh voters.