ROURKELA: The faction-ridden BJP in Bonai is facing the daunting task of regaining its lost glory in the Assembly constituency which was the saffron party’s gateway to Odisha in 1990. Grappling with infighting, the party’s prospects of wresting the Bonai seat in the Sundargarh Lok Sabha constituency appear slim and fraught with complex challenges.
Political observers believe the CPM-Congress alliance is likely to brighten CPM legislator Laxman Munda’s prospects of retaining the seat for the third time in a row. With BJP turning a laggard, the BJD too has emerged stronger ahead of the Assembly elections next year.
BJP stalwart and incumbent Sundargarh MP Jual Oram initiated his political journey by winning Bonai in 1990 when the party was a lesser-known entity in Odisha. Then BJP’s Junagarh MLA Bikram Keshari Deo and Jual were the only two BJP legislators in Odisha Legislative Assembly.
Jual retained the seat in 1995 but resigned later to contest the Lok Sabha election from Sundargarh. BJP lost to Congress in the bypoll in 1997. But the party wrested the seat with the late Dayanidhi Kishan’s victory in the 2000 elections.
Sources said in 2004, Dayanidhi contested as an Independent due to differences with Jual. While BJP candidate Bhimsen Chaudhary lost, CPM’s Laxman Munda emerged as the winner. In 2009 Bhimsen won with a slender margin of 3,356 votes despite Dayanidhi acting as a spoiler and polling over 18,000 votes.
Due to differences with Jual, Bhimsen contested the 2014 polls from Congress and lost. BJP’s official nominee Luthar Oram slipped to fourth position while Dayanidhi fought the elections on a BJD ticket and claimed the second spot. CPM’s Laxman Munda won narrowly with 1,818 votes. In 2019, Laxman Munda won from Bonai with a margin of 12,030 votes due to an alliance with Congress. BJD and BJP nominees Ranjit Kishan and Anil Barla were placed second and third respectively.
BJP insiders blamed the infighting in the party for BJP’s downfall in Bonai. Since 2014, the BJD has been grabbing the second position and its sweeping performance in 2022 rural polls makes the ruling party a serious contender.
They pointed out that despite BJP’s Anil Barla polling 37,266 votes with a gain of 5.92 per cent in the 2019 elections, the gap with the winner was 22,713 votes which is hard to be bridged without a miracle in 2024. Besides, a section of the BJP is opposed to the candidature of Anil in 2024 though no winnable candidate is in sight so far. However, Odisha BJP’s spokesperson Dhiren Senapati claimed the party has a strong presence in Bonai.
“The problem lies with the Assembly seat only as in Lok Sabha elections, Jual continues to draw the highest votes from Bonai. BJP is determined to regain Bonai seat with a selection of the right candidate, correction of weaknesses and highlighting the good works of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre,” he added.