Cong eyes chance in Odisha, gets poll ready before others
BHUBANESWAR: We will go to people with the message that the BJD and the BJP have (formed) an unholy nexus and only the Congress can voice their grievances. SATYA PRAKASH NAYAK,
Congress spokesperson
The Odisha Congress appears to be first off the block for the assembly elections scheduled next year.
Party’s in-charge for the state Jitender Singh had last week said they have decided to declare candidates for 50 of the 147 assembly seats by the end of this month, and appoint office-bearers at the district and block levels to strengthen the state unit.
The early declaration of the candidates, a senior party leader said, was meant to send across a message that the Congress was not an “indecisive party”.
It had taken weeks to decide on fielding Ritarani Sahu, the wife of Congress MLA Subal Sahu, whose death necessitated the bypoll to Bijepur seat in February. Ritarani ultimately contested as a candidate of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), and won by a margin of over 41,000 votes.
Congress’s last minute candidate Pranay Sahu could not even recover his security deposit.
Odisha last elected a Congress government in 1995, but has since the 2000 polls seen its fortune slide when it lost power to the alliance of the BJD and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The worst came in 2017 panchayat polls when the Congress managed to get 18% of the total votes, and was pushed to the third position with the BJP cornering 32% votes. The Congress has also seen high-profile desertions, including that of former Union minister Chandrasekhar Sahoo, who joined the BJD.
But Congress leaders in Odisha sense a chance of revival following the move by the ruling BJD to support the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s candidate for the post of deputy chairperson of Rajya Sabha, Harivansh Narayan Singh.
“In the changed circumstances, the BJP in Odisha may not go after (chief minister) Naveen Patnaik as seriously as it did earlier. We would go to the people with the message that the BJD and the BJP have (formed) an unholy nexus and only the Congress can voice their grievances,” Congress spokesperson Satya Prakash Nayak said.
Taking an early call on its election strategy, the Congress has also decided that candidates who lost their security deposits in the 2014 assembly elections — 40 of the 147 who contested — will not be given the tickets in 2019.
“Winnability and new faces will be our preference while selecting the candidates,” said state chief Niranjan Patnaik.
The party has also announced presidents and working presidents for 33 organisational district committees, and presidents for 90% zonal committees. It is also in the process of finalising booth level workers and will run ‘my booth my pride’ campaign, similar to the one in Rajasthan, to strengthen its organisational position at the village level.
The Congress has also become proactive on social media with leaders opening up with criticisms of the BJD and the BJP.
Professor Brahmananda Satpathy of Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, however, doesn’t see the prospects of the Congress improving in the polls next year despite it trying to set its house in order. “The party is on a steady decline in Odisha and the 2017 zilla parishad polls proved that it no longer strikes a chord with the rural electorate. Besides, its failure in rallying around Opposition parties to form a grand alliance at the Centre would have an impact in Odisha too.”
BJP national secretary Suresh Pujari said the Congress can choose to live under an illusion of occupying the Opposition space. “Their vote base is shrinking. I hope they are able to hold onto the 18% cent vote they got in the panchayat polls,” he said.