If anything, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan must deserve credit for infusing blood into the BJP State unit, which has suddenly taken an aggressive posture.
The BJP is not just aggressive; it has fast emerged belligerent and forceful and dares to take the bull by its horns.
Especially, after the Bargarh incident where two Union Ministers were targeted by the BJD activists, the BJP has turned vengeful and has resorted to a similar muscular show to protest the visits of the BJD Ministers where ever they are going in the State and outside. The advantage of the BJP is the BJD no longer can take the high moral ground to condemn the act of black flag protests and at times ready-for-a-scuffle gesture of the BJP since it was first to commit the blunder. For, a single incident of foolhardiness, the BJD has now to bear the BJP’s tit-for-tat and growl under humiliation and face loss -it’s like a wound which the State ruling party can neither see nor show. The point of worry is the unsavoury shows of protests are showing no sign of a denouement with just a few incidents; on the contrary, they are going on regularly sending the same message that the ruling BJD sought to achieve against the Central Ministers-frustration of locals against ineffectiveness of a Government. Now, it looks the BJP game plan is to keep staging similar protests against the BJD till the rural polls and beyond just to hammer at the ineffectiveness of a scam-hit BJD Government.
Pradhan may be discarded by the BJD men for having too little experience in Odisha politics to make any worthy comments on issues and for being overambitious to wrest power in 2019 for his party, but there is undeniably a sense of dread associated with Pradhan’s name in the BJD circle these days.
The sheer desperation of the BJD is manifest as it does not spare a single occasion when there is a hike in the prices of fossil fuels like petrol, diesel and natural gas as Pradhan heads the Petroleum Ministry. In a recent case, the BJD opposed vehemently the cut in kerosene quota to Odisha much the same way it had protested to cut in rice quota months ago.
Pradhan hardly hogged headlines during his singular term as member of the Odisha Assembly in 2000 when he represented a backward nondescript constituency, Pallahara. He was not among the who’s who in the State BJP then, who rubbed shoulders with the BJD in the corridor of power. But in terms of orgainsing the party and managing polls for the BJP on national basis, he has an unviable track record and few Odias enjoy leverage akin to Pradhan in the Central unit.
So, notwithstanding whether or not he would be presented as the Chief Ministerial candidate during the 2019 Assembly polls in Odisha, it looks the Central BJP wants to utilise Pradhan’s talent to check BJD’s progress.
Pradhan began poking his nose in Odisha matters ever since he was made a Union Minister with a view to invigorate the State BJP unit, besides criticising the BJD Government on many issues.
The change of guard in the State BJP also was a plus for Pradhan. Gradually, he has been capable of making a big difference to the BJP as far as its position as a principal Opposition in the State is concerned.