By Ashutosh Mishra
The Congress in Odisha has shown a tendency to shoot itself in the foot at crucial junctures. The party seems pretty close to pressing the self destruct button with elections staring in the face.
The Grand Old Party received the first major jolt in the state ahead of elections when Jharsuguda MLA Naba Kishore Das resigned making it clear that he is going to join Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD). As if that was not bad enough now Sundergarh MLA, Jogesh Singh, whom the state leadership has suspended for alleged anti-party activities, is reported to have expressed his desire to quit in a missive to Congress president Rahul Gandhi who is scheduled to visit the state on January 25.
The suspension of Singh by the state party was supposed to be a damage control measure in the wake of Das’ resignation but it has boomeranged. The resignation of the Sundergarh MLA is likely to be followed by many more as most leaders see a bleak future in the Congress which, with 15 seats in the state assembly, is the main opposition party of the state only for the namesake. Truth to speak, it had conceded that tag to the BJP long back.
Plagued by factionalism and a lacklustre leadership, the Congress in Odisha has been on a down slide for more than a decade now. The All India Congress Committee’s ad hoc approach to the problems of Odisha unit has not helped matters. All that the AICC has done is to change the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president from time to time as a knee-jerk reaction to crisis-like situations.
The biggest crisis for the Odisha unit, however, has been the crisis of leadership with one PCC president after another falling prey to the campaign of rebels. Former minister Jaydev Jena, who was the Dalit face of the party, had to face a sustained campaign by rebels when he was the PCC president. He had to go despite the backing of senior AICC leaders as the rebels dug their heels in and it became clear that the party would not be able to move forward in the state without submitting to their demands.
Equally controversial was the tenure of Prasad Harichandan as the PCC chief even though he tried his best to carry the entire party with him. He coined the slogan of “mun nuhen amein” (we not I) in what was seen as an attempt to promote the idea of collective leadership in the party, which has been out of power in the state since 2000. Ironically, however, factionalism worsened in the party under him and his differences with the Congress legislature party (CLP) became irreconcilable. With party MLAs launching a campaign against him, the AICC was left with no option but to replace him with former minister and the incumbent PCC chief Niranjan Patnaik.
Coming from a powerful political family of the state, Patnaik has resources at his command and is known to be a good organiser. But ultimately a leader is as good as his team. Within a few months of taking charge, he is facing the same problems that had once bothered his predecessors. With factional feuds coming into open, the party’s Koraput MLA, Krushna Chandra Sagaria, quit his assembly seat over a month ago leaving the leadership red-faced.
This was followed by a slanging match between Patnaik and former union minister Srikant Jena who was removed as chairperson of the state manifesto committee of the party. Though Jena has been quiet for the past few weeks, the chances of him targeting Patnaik again cannot be ruled out. The rebels are likely to be emboldened by the resignations of Naba Kishore Das and Jogesh Singh. The crisis in the Congress may deepen further ahead of Gandhi’s visit.
