Even as Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been constantly attacking the BJD Government and has emerged the real face of the State BJP, the Central BJP leaders are rather patting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s back.
Two most important Union Ministers, dubbed as number two and three after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the NDA Government at the Centre, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have praised Patnaik recently.
Consequently, the cohesion between the State and Central units of the BJP with regard to their stand on the BJD Government is in question.
During the BJP’s grand rally in Bhubaneswar, national president of the party Amit Saha had launched a scathing attack against the BJD Government for all-round failures and sought a performance card of the BJD rule of last 17 years. He had urged the people of the State to discard the BJD in the coming elections. But though the State BJP went gaga over the Saha’s snub, the BJD did not look least bothered.
During the Make In Odisha Conclave, Finance Minister Jaitley not only praised the growth rate of Odisha in recent years and described it as a role model, he also went to Navin Niwas in the same car with Chief Minister Patnaik and had lunch with Patnaik.
The luncheon meet of Jailtley had raised many an eyebrow and left the State BJP embarrassed. Even though the State BJP leaders tried their best to sweep the Central BJP’s admiration for Patnaik under the carpet, many of them resolved to fight against the BJD Government under the call of their national president Saha.
The State BJP’s dilemma further increased after a recent statement of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Addressing a rally in UP, Singh eulogized Patnaik for being an ‘honest’ leader in the country.
Union Minister Pradhan in a queer change of tone had praised Patnaik for his simplicity and even told that the CM’s simplicity was worth emulating.
The statements of the Union Ministers clearly point to their appreciation of the BJD Government under Patnaik and lay bare a lack of truct on the might of the State BJP to fight the forthcoming Panchayat election and the general elections on its own and their desire to cozy up with the former ally, though the top BJP leaders in Odisha are totally averse to it.
The Mahanadi issue has so far given most of the mileage to the BJD. The Congress plan to outsmart the BJD in taking mileage from the most sensitive issue has fallen flat, thanks to intra-party rivalry in the State unit. Nevertheless, the tacit support of the Central Government to the BJP-led Chhatisgarh Government on the river issue has done maximum damages to the Odisha BJP’s image.