The BJP and the BJD may share somewhat congenial relation at the Centre, but at the State level it is a different state altogether. The BJP is set to launch campaigns to exploit the prolonged incumbency of Naveen Patnaik in Odisha. The party is mobilising its cadres from booth Mandal and State level by ‘recharging’ its organisational structure and strengthening its base in the coastal belt.
The party has expanded its structure in the State by doubling Mandals tiers from earlier 451 to 999 and conducted elections to Mandals and districts presidents by an all round consensus in “open house meetings” instead of nominating them.
Talking to The Pioneer BJP Odisha in-charge Arun Singh said in the ongoing organisational elections 712 mandals have already been constituted.
He announced that from March each mandal will have one programme every month against the BJD State Government, picking one local issue and in each year each mandal will have 12 campaigns.
Each BJP mandal in Odisha comprises 45 booths with the State having a total of 37,000 booths which would be regularly involved in political agitations, said the BJP leader, indicating that the BJP would trigger “anti-BJD agitations from below and take it upwards”.
Singh said the mandal-level overhaul would end up launching 36 programmes in next three years of the current Assembly tenure. Similarly, every three months one programme would be conducted at the district level and every year two programmes at State level.
In each of these chain of programmes, the BJP would ensure that “active BJP cadre” from booth, mandal and district level are represented with a method “so that they could go back charged with goals to energise grassroots party structures”, said Singh.
The anti-Patnaik campaigns would hold the BJD Government for its “dismal failure” in development sphere despite having 117 MlAs in the Assembly as against BJP’s 10 MlAs after the Congress’s ten representatives, he said. The BJP’s Odisha in-charge said the party has influence in western and southern Odisha but “is weak in coastal belt” where it has tried to galvanise its cadres.
“ There is no connect between the State populace and the CM who is aloof despite winning three terms.. the cases of jaundice, children deaths, farmers’ suicide and dismal status of infrastructure in the State”, the BJP leader alleged. “...We will prove Naveen Patnaik is incapable”, he said.
After districts, BJP will appoint a state chief. BJP chief Amit Shah is likely to make the announcement before January, and his own election as national president comes up. Before the Assembly elections in 2019, the BJP would test the waters in 2017 state local bodies poll.
