Bhubaneswar: The bonhomie that once existed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik whom the former had described as his friend during his visit to the state on March 5 has vanished with poll temperature soaring and the contest between ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) showing all signs of turning into a no-holds-barred battle.
That Modi is no more willing to pull his punches while attacking the BJD, which backed his government on several contentious inside the parliament in the past, was evident as the Prime Minister addressed his first election rally in the state at Berhampur in Ganjam, the home district of chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday. Addressing the capacity crowd in the Silk City, also known as the political barometer of southern Odisha, the Prime Minister threw an open challenge to Patnaik saying that the BJD government would expire on June 4 when the election results would be announced.
Berhampur is witnessing a battle of turncoats with both BJP and BJD candidates having deserted the parties they belonged to earlier. While BJP candidate Pradeep Panigrahi was a minister in the Naveen Patnaik government which threw him out following corruption charges, BJD’s Bhrugu Buxipatra was a vice-president of Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit. He joined the regional party after BJP denied him a ticket for the Berhampur Lok Sabha seat which he had contested on the party symbol last time.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
Keenly aware of the political significance of the seat which had sent former prime minister Narasimha Rao to the Lok Sabha in 1996 and is popularly known as the political barometer of southern Odisha, Modi did not give any quarter to his party’s prime rival, calling for a decisive change in the state. “The BJP will form a double-engine government here after elections. The expiry date of the BJD government is June 4, 2024,” he asserted while taking a jibe at chief minister Naveen Patnaik whose deficient Odia has kept him in the crosshairs of his enemies since the beginning of his political career in 1997. “Odisha needs a chief minister who understands Odia language and culture,” remarked Modi making it obvious that niceties of the past were a forgotten chapter as the battle has been joined in earnest by both the parties.
Promising to make Odisha a number one state in the country, the Prime Minister urged the people to give his party a chance. “You have given 50 years to Congress and 25 years to BJD. Just give five years to the BJP. We will make Odisha the number one state in the country,” he said. He also promised to give the state a chief minister who “understands and takes pride in Odia culture and tradition, can help resolve the problems of Odisha at a faster pace.”
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who hardly ever responds to such jibes from his rivals, came with a quick repartee this time. “BJP is daydreaming about forming government in Odisha,” said the five-time chief minister who is eyeing a sixth straight term in office. His Man Friday, bureaucrat-turned-politician VK Pandian, who remains one of the prime targets of the BJP in this election, said, “With the blessings of the people, CM Naveen Patnaik will take oath as CM for the sixth term on June 9. The swearing-in ceremony will take place between 11.30 am and 1.30 pm on June 9.”
The Prime Minister also criticised the BJD government for refusing to implement the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Yojana and according priority to its own health scheme called Biju Patnaik Swasthya Yojana (BSKY). This has been a contentious issue ever since BSKY was launched in the state.
What is clear, however, is that BJP is now determined to make Odisha one of its main battlegrounds in eastern India with high hopes of improving its performance both in the Lok Sabha and the state assembly. The focus, though, is on the Lok Sabha as the party won 8 out of 21 lower House seats in the state in 2019, a jump of seven seats compared to its 2014 performance. Most of these seats came from western Odisha which is considered to be the party’s stronghold.
Looking to consolidate its position in this region further, the party has fielded Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan from the key western Odisha seat of Sambalpur. The BJD responded by pitting its organisational general secretary Pranab Prakash Das, and number three man in the party hierarchy, against him. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has also filed his candidature from the Kantabanji assembly seat in western Odisha, trying to send out a message that he cares for the region which would be best looked after only if his party wins both in the Lok Sabha and the state assembly.
That the battle is getting fiercer became obvious when the BJP lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against Pandian’s IAS wife Sujata Karthikeyan who was commissioner-cum-secretary of Mission Shakti department which supports women self-help groups with around 70 lakh members. Following BJP’s allegation that she was acting as the agent of the ruling party and trying to influence women SHG members to work for BJD, the EC ordered the transfer of Sujata to a non-public facing department.
It is significant to mention that women have been loyal voters of the BJD right since the inception of the party in 1997 following the death of Patnaik’s father Biju Patnaik who also commanded the loyalty of women voters. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who is credited with having enhanced reservation for women in the panchayati raj institutions to 50%, established the directorate of Mission Shakti in 2001 during his first term in power with the aim of ensuring financial empowerment of women. It was converted into a full-fledged department in 2021 with women SHG members receiving the support of most line departments of the government.
