One of the triumvirate of the Biju dynasty, now considered as a formidable adversary of the BJD regime, Bijay Mohapatra is on the vanguard of the BJP ready to make the party an impregnable fortress with every passing day. Gifted with a keen sense of acumen and perceptibility owing to his ubiquitous organisational presence in the State along with the Modi wave, he is viewed as an arch-angel of the party to usher in an El-Dorado for the BJP in the event of an election 2019 or prior to it. In an interview to The Pioneer, he spoke to Sugyan Choudhury on the prevailing political issues in the State.
When the BJP is making a landslide victory in the pan-Indian scenario, why did it lag behind in OdishaIJ
There were a lot of problems in Odisha and in our party too. The situation is rapidly changing now. First thing, the Modi wave could not be taken to villages. There were organisational weaknesses. We have identified them and we have geared up to strengthen our party by now. It is a threefold affair. First of all, we are going to give stress on organisational activities, then on agitational activities and finally on issues emerging out of the misrule of the Naveen Patnaik Government which has come to the fore after a long lapse of time. We are confident that we will remarkably improve in future.
Many a stalwart has left your party despite their organisational ability. It is alleged by observers that there is no internal democracy in your party, which is following the Congress line. What do you thinkIJ
No, no. In BJP, it is the team that matters. We work in team spirit. No individual, however great, is considered apart. Internal democracy exists. Everybody is free to give his views, his opinion.
You have massive organisational strength. But observers believe your ability remains underutilised by the BJP mandarins.
No, this observation is not true. I have wide personal rapport in the State. That is true of course. Now, the party is trying to capitalise on it. In the emerging political scenario, rapid changes are taking place. The party is trying to capitalise on it. I am also trying to capitalise on the political and personal contacts in garnering strength for the party. I am confident that is a turn in the tide for the BJP in days ahead and the party will play an important role in the State.
What is it that Amit Shah’s visit to Odisha is intended forIJ Will it consolidate the BJP’s position in the StateIJ
Yes, surely so. Our national president is visiting Odisha for the first time. He will focus primarily on our organisational weaknesses and try to reorganise the party from the grassroots level to the State level. He will try to eradicate our weaknesses by substituting it with renewed strength vigour and vitality. Secondly, the present Government of Odisha is infested with many scams like the land scam, the chit fund scam, the mining scam to which we are all opposed. The visit of Amit Shah at this critical juncture when the Government is cornered will not only provide an impetus to the party but also kindle hope among the people of the State.
Is your party demanding a probe into the mining scamIJ
That is our original demand. But now the matter is under the domain of the Supreme Court. It is only the apex court which we decide the fate of the mining scam of our State.
The State Government has cancelled allotments of lands and houses since 1995 for the sake of justice and fairplay. What is your reaction to this move by the GovernmentIJ
This is only a political gimmick. The Cabinet should not have taken such a decision. That is what I have expressed at a Press conference. The cancellation of land and houses, plots by the Government only constitutes 5 per cent of the total land allotment under the DQ (discretion quota). What has happened to the allotment of lands in the GA Department done at the behest of the CM himselfIJ When Satish Sharma’s case was fought in Supreme Court and when the High Court had given a judgement in 2002, the CM should have declared a clear land policy. Instead, he deliberately, intentionally sat over the matter, for which there could be no transparency over the land policy. Obviously, there cannot be any two sets of rules governing the land policy. You cannot have a set of rules for the corporate houses and another set of rules for others. That is why I said earlier that it cannot stand the scrutiny of law. Recently, very recently, you have regularised lands by asking the allottees to deposit three times of their premium. When on one side you are going on regularising lands, on the other side you are going on cancelling plots, houses, lands, etc., etc.; how could this be happening at the same timeIJ This cannot work. The Chief Minister himself has created lawlessness in his GA Department. There is no law in the GA Department. law is at the mercy of the CM.
Do you only rely on the charisma of Modiji in the 2019 general elections or you depend on your organisational strengthIJ
You know the political situation in Odisha is moving at such a speed that no one knows what will happen and whenIJ The elections may happen even before 2019. That is the political scenario now. Modiji’s charisma will work. When we fought (the last) elections, Modiji was not the PM. Now he is the PM. That is a factor; that is a positive factor. People have seen his governance. On the other hand, the Government in Odisha is totally corrupt. It has no morals to face the people. For the last six months, the Chief Minister has not opened his mouth on any scam. One of his own staff members was arrested. Neither he protected him nor did he defend him. He is totally cornered. All scams’ ATM counters operate from the Naveen Nivas. I wanted him to defend, but he did not. It seems everything is fixed. The BJD has no morals to face the people. The BJP has the necessary morals and the courage of conviction to face the people. It will carry all the scams to the people. We have carried out demonstrations on such scams in Balangir, Baleswar and Cuttack. We got massive support from the people which the BJP did not get six months before. Therefore, the message is clear. The BJP will certainly ride higher in days ahead of elections.
What is your agenda to catapult the BJP to powerIJ
We will unfold it before the people at the right moment. But then, you must know there is a threefold strategy like organisational, agitational and then focusing on problems and issues. We are concentrating on various Assembly segments, Parliamentary segments and on many sensitive issues and agitational programmes. People will appreciate this and have enough confidence in the BJP leadership and rank and file. We will certainly cross the bridge with sanguine success once we come near it.