The recent statement of Damodar Rout, a vice-president of the BJD and a powerful Minister in the Naveen Patnaik’s Government, had sent jitters in ruling dispension by making a paradigm shift about the perception of the Odisha polity. Dr Rout stated, “Though the Congress was the main opponent of the BJD in year 2000, but if it would like to have an alliance with the BJD then we would welcome them.”
It is not for the first time the feasibility of an alliance between the BJD and the Congress has surfaced though. Not so long ago, BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab had stated that the Congress is not untouchable any more. Thus, not only a speculation of alliance has emerged, but also it created a sense of unsettlement among the party members, many of whom suggesting it as a huge self goal by the party.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is a man of very few words and dwells within his realms of very specific and limited statements. He lastly categorically stated that the BJD is equidistant from both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However it seems that all may not be well in the BJD especially due to a spirited campaign and excellent panchayat poll performance by the BJP.
It may not be for the first time that Dr Rout has spoken out his mind, but this time people are confused. The same people who put their faith on the Naveen Patnaik Government term after term are asking whether this is a statement to test the reaction of party members and public in general at a time when the BJD is battling a problem of perception especially after very emotive issues such as Dana Majhi, a tribal man who carried his wife’s dead body due to non-availability of an ambulance, multi thousand-crore chit fund scam and the death of 19 children due to malnutrition at Nagada village in Sukinda.
After continuously ruling the State since 2000, the BJD is facing a severe anti-incumbency trend. While the Congress ruled the State before 2000 for many decades, among the masses it became the party synonymous with lack of development and high corruption. The BJP’s constant fight for overall development for all (Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas) and Narendra Modi’s pro-poor schemes such as Mudra Yojana, cooking gas connection to poor women and Jan Dhan account for all where the subsidy is transferred directly to the beneficiary are widely applauded which has reflected in the recent rural and urban body elections and also bought new energy to the party’s thousands of grassroots workers.
The BJD seems to be losing ground to the BJP in both urban and rural areas. The recent debate on one-rupee rice is one of the examples of how the NDA Government at the Centre assertively discussed it as a programme of its own. The BJD after ruling the State for so long appears to be stagnant with bankruptcy of ideas. The BJD’s fortunes now appear to be uncertain and its top leaders seem vulnerable to the a sustained challenge by the BJP leaders.
Moreover, the BJD’s electoral success is often attributed to a continuous rejection of the Congress by the people of Odisha. Though Dr Rout’s statement has been welcomed by veteran Congress leader Narasingha Mishra, other leaders such as Niranjan Patnaik have questioned the credibility of the BJD in the present scenario.
BJD MP Baijayant Panda has stated that the BJD was formed to stop the misrule of the Congress and the concept of a BJD-Congress alliance is difficult for him to swallow. However, the statement party supremo Naveen Patnaik was quick to stop the alliance talks.
BJP State chief spokesperson Sajjan Sharma has reminded the BJD not to forget that they won the 2000 elections by holding the hand of the BJP and due to the saffron party’s popular sway during that period. He posed the question whether the BJD is a party of convenience without any moral principles to stay in power!
Now, are the theatrics of Dr Rout are to draw unnecessary attention only to make a U-turn the next day in the pretext of blaming the media of distorting his viewsIJ Or, has he been made a patsy for the party to divert people’s disillusionment about the BJD from real challenges such as unemployment, poor infrastructures and lack of basic amenitiesIJ