New Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was contesting his debut election to the State Assembly in 2000 from the backward Pallahara seat. His meetings used to be the biggest crowd-pullers because of his charisma and speechmaking.
At a meeting at a nondescript village, he told the people that Odisha could be transformed on the lines of Andhra Pradesh provided there was a Chief Minister like Chandrababu Naidu. During those times, Andhra was making rapid strides in development and Naidu was at the height of his success. He was emerging to be an icon for promoting IT and bringing in growth to Hyderabad at incredible speed.
Whether the villagers had got his point or not, it was at least clear that Pradhan as a leader was too promising and had a fire in the belly to usher in growth in Odisha at par with the fastest growing and developed States in India.
He won the elections and made his first entry into the Assembly. The next four years tested his dynamism and organizing acumen. He far outshone his contestants Nrusingha Sahu and others, which was crystal clear from his fan-flowing. He had the maximum number of youths as supporters in the nook and cronies of his constituency. Roads, bridges, school buildings, electricity and pipe water projects, etc were undertaken rapidly. ‘Muku Bhai’ as he was known among the ranks and files soon became a household name. Apart from politics, Pradhan had a knack to mix with the people in their social, cultural and domestic spheres and thus was loved by everybody.
2004 elections proved his support base. He won to the lok Sabha from the Deograh seat from BJP ticket with a thumping majority. Since then he never looked back despite the adverse position of the State BJP.Pradhan’s greatest strength is that he never bowed before defeat. He was defeated in the 2009 elections when he was contesting from the Pallahara Assembly seat. The BJP-BJD alliance had broken and the BJD candidates were basking in the glory of their boss Naveen Patnaik. Even the ones who did not have public contact for long years began to dream of victory. Pradhan’s main rival this time was BJD’s Rabi Pani. There was a keen contest. Pradhan had left no stone unturned to win the people’s heart. He had even attended poll meet from a helicopter. However, it all proved vain, with Pani winning the polls.
But then like other leaders, Pradhan did not pass into sulk. Nor did he lose faith in his parent party. He remained steadfast and stayed with the BJP both at the bad and good times.
In 2007, Pradhan had been made the national general secretary of the BJP. He was also the poll manager in States like Karnataka, Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh where the party romped home. His organizational skill was no secret to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, lK Advani and other top BJP leaders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was too close to him.
Although Pradhan does not seem to be enjoying much leverage in the State BJP unit, he has spread his clout in the national level unlike any Odisha leader. That is why even after the defeat in 2009, the Central party made him a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar. Given the importance Modi was giving him during his campaign in Odisha before the general elections, it was expected that he might be rewarded with a berth of Minister after the NDA forms Government. Truly, he has got an important portfolio and the people of the State expect a lot from him.