Samikhsya Bureau
There is a flutter in the saffron unit in Odisha as the time has come when the party will have a new face as state president. Just a week time left when a new man wears the mantle and guide the party out of the mediocrity it suffers as of now.
Mediocrity because, Bharatiya Janata Party in Odisha has undoubtedly made some significant strides in the recent past to outflank the Congress party in the Odisha to a state of a party as rudderless as never before. But for the BJP, the challenge does not end there.
That despite being the advantage to the BJP, the unit is obviously forced into a kind of claustrophobic state post the relationship between the Biju Janata Dal and the BJP central leadership virtually transformed itself to an unwritten alliance of sort.
Which has placed the saffron unit here in a situation where the latter seems struggling with the political dichotomy posed by Modi-Naveen truck .
That would make the new president of the unit to face a more challenging task. Or it can also be described as a double whammy for a party that suffers from a confusion over the clarity of a face of the party and on the other, the bonhomie of the BJD and the Centre that reduces the sharp edge that the saffron unit could have enjoyed otherwise.
Three names are making round. They are Samir Mohanty , Prithviraj Harichandan, the BJP spokesmen, and K.V.Singh Deo, who lost in the recent polls from Patnagarh which he had won a record five times.
Chatter in the BJP grapevines emit confusing signals and a lot depends on the national leadership as for whom the wind blows in favour.
Looking through the prism of political following and the electoral track-records, the choice is evidently in favour K.V.Singh Deo, a repeat winner from Patnagarh, in Bolangir district, enjoys an aura of popularity in the area and acceptance as a whole also. KV had once remained the BJP president but he had to step down after being the legislature party leader.
Even, to gauge his popularity, he stands taller than others and with the modesty he conducts himself, as a leader, Singh Deo can be a choice the party poster-boy Dharmendra Pradhan, may find him more amenable than others.
Whereas, Samir Mohanty is yet to break out of the local stream to be acceptable as a face to head the state unit. Nor has he the experience for such big jobs.
On the other, Harichandan, besides being a spokesman, he has nothing more worthwhile to flaunt. And his problem is that, he has remained a repeat loser electorally, inviting little embarrassment like losing deposits in the elections.
In contrast, Singh Deo has been seen taking both, victory and defeat, with a cool that is unusual for the present day ‘netas’.
