Centre's softness towards Naveen Patnaik puts Odisha BJP in difficulties

The absolute control exercised by the central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its state organisations has created fault traces, which are markedly evident in some places and less so in others. Odisha falls in the first category. The chasm between Delhi and Bhubaneswar has set off several problems, hampering the BJP’s growth in Odisha, but the most serious is the Centre’s perceived “softness” towards the chief minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president, Naveen Patnaik, ostensibly in return for the BJD’s support to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Parliament, particularly the Rajya Sabha. The BJD is not an NDA constituent but always bailed out the ruling alliance when there was a legislative jam over a disputatious Bill.

The recent appointment of Sunil Bansal as national general secretary to be in charge of Odisha, West Bengal, and Telangana, was welcomed by the state BJP as a move to retool the organisational apparatuses. As former Uttar Pradesh general secretary (organisation), Bansal was regarded as a wiz at micromanaging the faction-ridden UP unit and bringing about cohesion, which sent the BJP to serial victories in the elections since 2014.

“Bansal knows an organisation from the grass roots. We need that kind of a person,” said Manas Mohanty, Odisha BJP’s general secretary (organisation).

The only issue before the Odisha leaders was with three weighty states to mind, how would Bansal apportion his time and attention? “Clearly, Telangana will be his priority because the BJP feels that’s a low-hanging fruit ready to be plucked. Then comes West Bengal, and Odisha will be the last,” a state BJP source claimed. However, this impression was scotched by an office-bearer who said that in 2017, when the Odisha BJP state executive met, Bansal was sent as an observer. “He stayed back after the meeting and familiarised himself with state politics,” he said. Moreover, the association between Bansal and central minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the BJP’s best-known leader from Odisha, goes back to their days as Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activists.

Of course Bansal has his task cut out. “The biggest challenge before us is to convince people that political governance is missing under Patnaik,” stated Samir Mohanty, the BJP’s Odisha president. “Corruption is institutionalised and rampant on the ground. Government employees are assigned party work. Nepotism kicks in even in ration card distribution. Direct funds from the Centre are channelled to benefit certain individuals and not the targeted recipients,” added Mohanty.

Suresh Pujari, Bargarh MP, drew attention to two murders that rocked Odisha: That of Pari, the five-year-old child of a rickshaw puller in July 2020, who was killed allegedly by an aide of a senior BJD minister. The other case was that of Mamita Meher, a young school teacher, whose body was dumped and traced after a week. The BJP demanded the resignation of Patnaik’s junior home minister, Dibya Shankar Mishra.

Has the BJP been aggressive enough in campaigning against the state government’s lapses listed by its local leaders? “Our confrontations have mostly been with bureaucrats and not BJD politicians. The Centre should be more combative towards Patnaik, otherwise we will never grow,” said Mohanty. For instance, the local BJP detailed the alleged corruption in the allotment of houses under the PM Awaas Yojana to the Centre. “What was the response? No action but only recommendations were sent to the chief secretary,” said Mohanty.

“I would agree that Patnaik successfully marketed the perception that he is with the government of India. I won’t speak on the BJD’s support to the NDA in parliamentary voting. I can understand why the BJD backed our presidential candidate because she (Droupadi Murmu) was a minister in an (earlier) BJD-BJP coalition government. But what pushed the BJD to endorse our vice-president candidate even before a request was made? Patnaik went to the extent of parading his MPs as proof,” said state BJP spokesperson Bhrugu Baxipatra.

The feeling in the state BJP was each such gesture and the accompanying optics weakened the party’s aim to emerge as a strong opposition.

However, the BJD alone could not be blamed for the BJP’s plight. Manas Mohanty was in full flow as he dissected the problems within the party. “There is no coordination between our senior leaders. Naveen Babu is the lone leader of his party while we have so many who fancy themselves as the next CM. The BJD is well organised at the grass roots. We are not. Unless our central schemes are publicised at the grass roots, what is the use? We spend ~50 lakh to welcome a new member but there are no funds for ward members to publicise Narendra Modi’s schemes,” he said.

Mohanty believes Bansal’s first endeavour should be to strengthen the BJP at the grass roots and not “celebrate” lateral entrants. “A tree should be nourished at the root and not the crown,” he said.

Although Pradhan was considered the “most popular” face in Odisha, there were two views on whether the BJP should project a CM candidate. Suresh Pujari stated: “Collective leadership is the answer because after taking into account the outcome of the elections, our main challenge is making people understand that we are an alternative to Naveen Babu and not getting entangled in the leadership debate.”

On the other hand, Baxipatra said although the BJP had not projected a CM in many states, “in Odisha it will help to build an individual as the leader so that there’s no confusion in our cadre and voters”.