By D.N. Singh
Back home in Odisha, which has somehow drifted away by the tides of Indo-Pak imbroglio, is likely to recapture its momentum very shortly. With the most amusing and willing suspension of disbelief over a cosy relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, both, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Biju Janata Dal, had kept the political climate warm.
However, the only dividing line between the two supposedly main rivals in the fray, is the claim on numbers. It is Amit Shah’s ‘mission -120’ vs Naveen Patnaik, the man who has never indulged in numerical claims.
But, as reports suggest, a few days back Patnaik, at a conclave, had made the claim to surpass the 2014 number of 117 towards a formidable come-back in 2019 . It may sound bit too tall an order unless Patnaik goes for real revision in the candidature for the coming polls. Be it assembly or for the Lok Sabha seats, political observers foresee a tougher battle ahead for Naveen Patnaik and more contrasted by the mood in the BJP camp now getting a new boost after the Indo-Pak incidents. Tickets play a crucial role and the denials are bound to stoke rebellion which may affect votes.
So, for the BJD, some course correction is very essential in view of the fact that some leaders in the party suffer the blots of scams while some are deemed to have lost their winability tag. A lot of thinking have to go into Patnaik’s war-room strategy in the selection because the BJD supremo this time faces challenges from the BJP, driven by Modi’s political fire-power and the Congress which, according to political observers, has fair chances to improve upon its past performance.
And the BJD, in all likelihood, may be bit lenient towards the Congress covertly for the simple reason that, if the latter improves, the spill can only affect the BJP vote bank, mainly in the areas like southern and some western parts of the state.
With the days passing the configuration of the electoral road map has to be more clear. But, as of date, the duo who hold the anchors are Patnaik and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Not a day passes when the two leaders are not seen at a meeting or rally. Even when the entire nation was virtually glued to the televisions watching the happenings in Pulwama to Balakot, the above two leaders were seen at certain functions padding up for 2019 battle. Which clearly underlines the desperation on both the sides.
For Pradhan and the Congress, it were the same one liners against the BJD dispensation ‘ inert’, corrupt and autocratic, the jibes those get widely circulated through friendly Tv channels. Although, most of the Odia news channels can hardly hide their loyalty towards the ruling party, while a few try to play safe as far as possible barring one channel i.e Otv which overtly demonstrates its compulsions to play the role of a veneer of objectivity but gets its claims widely cracked.
Notwithstanding the candidates to be projected by the two opposition parties, it would be interesting that to what extent the BJD president can go to antagonise a sizable chunk of leaders who may be kept out of the fray. A compulsion and a calculated risk Patnaik and out there for a tight rope walk this time.
