The Congress in the State is in a crisis. Its leaders have been quitting one after another. Not just the one-time MlAs or Congress-supported Independents but the most senior ones. Words are also doing the round that many more from the party are likely to join the mighty BJD in coming days.
What is surprising is that some of these leaders, who were Congress by blood and had been vehemently criticising the BJD Government and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on several issues, have turned their back to the parent party and embraced the BJD. From Talcher MlA Braja Kishore Pradhan to leader of the Opposition in Assembly and senior Congress man Bhupinder Singh, the stream of leaders joining the BJD smacks of not just their selfish goal, but betrayal of the electorates and the party under whose banner or support they had won elections.
Talcher MlA Pradhan had created much ripple when he was arrested and later jailed because of his role in the Talcher mines arson over retrenchment of hundreds of contract workers. When the MlA was in the Talcher Jail, Congress leaders in three groups had been to Angul and Talcher to meet him. The Congress had also held agitation in Angul district headquarters and created a lot of hue and cry in the State capital for his release from jail. And a few days after being let off, Pradhan joined BJD hurting the sentiments of thousands of his supporters and disappointing the Congress leadership.
Now Congress’s fiercest leader Singh has also ditched his party and shaken hands with the BJD supremo, whom he had been criticising all along over several issues including the mining and chit fund scams. Pradhan is an independent MlA. He had contested elections as an Independent after Congress did not give him a ticket from Talcher.
However, after winning the seat he had been somewhat loyal to his parent party and was behaving as a Congress man in the State Assembly. His quitting the party is driven by an ulterior purpose: To get a ticket from BJD and consolidate his political career. But Singh’s case is not the same. Being the leader of Opposition, people expected a lot from him. Constitutionally, he was playing a vital role to ward off the undemocratic and illegal works of the Government. But when he ultimately joined the BJD camp, what message has it sent to the publicIJ The common people have now begun to feel that Singh was ‘hypocritical’. He made it clear when he said his family has a long association with Biju Patnaik.
Singh may be dissatisfied with the style of functioning of the State Congress, but being a top leader he could have tried to sort out the mess. Instead, by joining BJD he made the Congress more unstable and unreliable in public view. BJD MP from Puri Pinaki Mishra’s statement in view of Singh’s joining the BJD is more damaging to the Congress. Mishra said each Congress leader now wants to join the BJD as the Congress leadership has lost its credibility and most leaders and workers are dissatisfied with the one-upmanship of a few top leaders and therefore want to ditch it.
Few would dispute that the State Congress by remaining off power for a long time has become weak. Besides, it is saddled with internal bickering. There is no consensus leader to lead the State unit. PCC chief Jayadev Jena and Union Minister Srikant Jena are not acceptable to the rank and file. The selection of candidates for the lok Sabha and Assembly seats where many top leaders have complained to have been sidelined.
Potential leaders like Soumya Ranjan Patnaik and his elder brother Niranjan Patnaik started a rebellion against the State leadership under the Jenas. Soumya was expelled from Congress leading to his formation of the Aama Odisha. Though still in Congress, Niranjan had gone public by registering his protest against Jayadev and declaring that he would not contest elections under the former’s leadership. Congress-supported Independent MlA from Champua Jitu Patnaik too quit the party and joined BJD, though of course it was not as much due to his frustration over the functioning of the top leaders as owing to consolidating his position.
Brajrajnagar MlA Anup Sai’s joining the BJD is also another shameful instance of opportunistic politics. He is a three-time MlA from Congress ticket and his decision to dissociate with the party when it is sinking down is entirely based on his selfish agenda.