There seems to be a move to strengthen a tribal lobby in the Odisha unit of the BJP. Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram, a BJP tribal leader of Sundargarh district, is spearheading the strategy, feel political circles. It is well-known that longtime Koraput Congress tribal leader Giridhar Gamang has entered the BJP fold through Oram, with whom he and his equally politically ambitious son Sisir had parleys in Delhi about a month ago. That Gamang would quit the Congress and join the BJP was a foregone conclusion after this, whatever jugglery of words Gamang played later.
An impression has gained ground that Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is projected as the BJP's chief ministerial candidate because of his closeness to the party's high command. This is despite the fact that Odisha's Pradhan, now a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar, refrained from contesting in the last general elections from his native State.
Oram is now the BJP's only elected member from the State. Many in the State BJP are understandably averse to Pradhan's projection as the CM nominee. The tribal lobby appears to be against this at the cost of the older BJP leader Oram. No wonder then that Oram seems to have teamed up with Giridhar Gamang to put up a strong tribal block in the State party that would strive for its claim in an event of a race for Chief Minister.
Admittedly, Dharmendra Pradhan was present along with Oram when Gamang joined the BJP at party national president Amit Shah's house in Delhi on Friday. But Pradhan had to be on the scene there as otherwise he had to be misunderstood when such a senior leader like Gamang was joining the BJP in the party chief's presence.
It, however, looks ridiculous in the context of the prevailing situation in Odisha that the BJP is aspiring to come to power in the State dethroning the mighty Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD). The BJP high command, with its pro-Patnaik stand, has dissipated the saffron party's State unit into a pathetic lot. So, observers point out that the imaginary race for Chief Minister's post is like building castles in the air.
And for Gamang being expected to be harbinger of the BJP's electoral success is another daydream, according to keen political analysts. Having no worthwhile leadership and following, Gamang was winning polls in Koraput, where the dominant tribal community did not see beyond Indira Gandhi and Congress and its 'hand' symbol. And when the BJD eroded the Congress' tribal vote bank, Gamang lost polls on two successive occasions. If, at all, the BJP generates a sweeping wave in the next elections, Gamang as its candidate would be propelled to victory and not because of his mistakenly-assumed leadership. Or, the Congress, and not the BJP, would continue as the BJD's real contender in tribal Koraput.