Samikhsya Bureau
Congress National President Rahul Gandhi arrives in Bhubaneswar on Jan 25 to breath some life into the state unit that struggles against an exit syndrome. Challenges before Rahul are many. It is the day before which a good number of leaders like the Jharsugda MLA, Naba Das joins the BJD in the presence of the BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik. Another leader Jogesh Singh also left his parent party to blow the conch for BJD, which was preceded by the exit of Sagaria from the Congress.
On the other hand what hangs like a Damocle’s sword on the state unit in general and the PCC chief Niranjan Patnaik in particular is the threat from the expelled Congress leader Srikant Jena that on Jan 25 he would reveal something that would embarrass the Congress ‘Yuvraj’ Rahul, like never before. The deadly fissure within the Congress and the animus between Jena and Niranjan Patnaik is quite old which the party high command should not pretend to be ignorant about.
But this time a leader of Jena’s seniority and experience has dared the party’s president. It will be interesting to watch as what would be the follow up from Jena on Jan 25, a day that blends both fear and euphoria. Can Jena gather the guts to take on Rahul head- on or the entire exercise was just scary innuendos to keep the Congress leadership guessing.
So it is a peculiar situation when Rahul Gandhi has decided to come to Odisha. A question that may remain paramount that what would be the approach of Rahul Gandhi to the situation in Odisha. Will he take a dig at the detractors like Jena and others or may underplay the importance of the issues. A lesson he may learn from Naveen Patnaik as how to finish the barb of enemies through ignorance.
Because, the Congress president must be aware of the conditions prevailing here and he may do better to play the national cards and a card or two against the BJD.
