ROURKELA: After the alliance talks between BJD and BJP failed, fresh political equations have emerged among the three main players for the ensuing general elections in the politically-significant Sundargarh district.
The BJP camp is jubilant, with party members celebrating the news by bursting firecrackers in multiple locations across Rourkela city on Friday evening. The party’s rank and file are buoyed by the decision, citing confidence in their performance in the 2019 elections and asserting the enduring popularity of the BJP both nationally and within Odisha.
Conversely, the BJD has maintained a cautious silence, re-evaluating its electoral prospects in the wake of the failure of alliance talks. Not that the Congress aspires big, yet its members seem to be happy for being saved from complete annihilation in Sundargarh in the upcoming polls.
In 2019, the BJP had clinched victory in the Sundargarh Lok Sabha seat with a staggering margin of 2.23 lakh votes, solidifying its dominance in the region. Between 1998 and 2019, the LS seat was with BJP five out of the six times. In 2019 the BJP also won Sundargarh, Talsara and Birmitrapur Assembly constituencies (ACs), while Rourkela and RN Pali ACs went to the BJD and the Congress emerged victorious in Rajgangpur AC. The CPM backed by Congress had won the Bonai AC.
However, in 2022, the BJD experienced victory in Sundargarh, sweeping the zilla parishad election and making significant gains in municipal polls. It swept the Sundargarh zilla parishad election and the Rajgangpur and Birmitrapur municipality polls, while BJD tasted partial success in Sundargarh municipality poll.
BJD’s state general secretary and former Sundargarh MLA Jogesh Singh in a guarded reply said the BJD is always with the people and voters have reposed faith in the government led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. “Irrespective of what the rivals may claim, the BJD is confident of repeating the ZP and urban poll results of 2022 in the upcoming polls,” he stated.
On the other hand, state spokesperson of BJP Dhiren Senapati claimed Sundargarh is BJP’s traditional stranglehold and the party is going alone with confidence asserting, “The Assembly and parliamentary voting patterns are altogether different from local elections”.
Meanwhile, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) general secretary Biren Senapati claimed the BJD and the BJP wanted support from each other, adding the Congress is in a comfortable position now.
Observers feel, now that the alliance is not happening, the Congress which is in a weaker position would be able to give a fight in the Rajgangpur and Talsara ACs, though in the rest of the ACs its chances are feeble.