BJP revamps organisation, lines up protests to take on BJD in Odisha

AIMING TO take on the ruling BJD inodisha,thebjpissettounleash a two-pronged mission in the state — strengthen its organisational structure at the ground level while aggressively attacking the state government to cash in on the anti-incumbency factor.

The BJD has been in power in the state since 2000. The BJP was in power in alliance with the BJD till 2009, but it has not been a significant force in the state since then.partyleaderssaidthebjphas been giving “special attention” to Odisha, aiming to come up as a formidable force in the run-up to the 2019 Assembly elections.

The BJP has now revamped the structure of its state organisation, expanding its 451 mandals to 997 in order to widen its ground-level activities. The mandals have been instructed to organise protests every month against the “misrule” of the Naveen Patnaik government. District-level protests have to be organised every three months. And between September 15 and 20, the party’s national leadership will land in the state capital to lead protests to expose “the scam-hit, insensitive, corrupt and anti-people government”.

“The PM has already addressed three rallies in the state. Odisha was one of the four states he chose to address farmers,” said a leader. The PM may address another rally in November.

The BJP’S recent success in Assam has raised fresh hopes in the senior leadership of gaining ground in Odisha, too. “The graph has been ascending. In the 2009 Lok Sabha poll, we came second in one seat, Sundargarh. We were third in 20 seats. In 2014, the BJP won Sundargarh and was second in nine constituencies, winning 22.5 per cent of the votes,” said Arun Singh, BJP general secretary in charge of Odisha. “In Assam we went from five (Assembly seats in 2011) to 60 (in next Assembly election), in Haryana 4 to 48. In Odisha we can go from 10 (seats at present) to 110.”

“The local body elections in February will be a litmus test for our efforts,” a senior leader said.

Singh said the BJP would focus on the Patnaik government’s “misrule”. Alleging that self-help groups have been misusing funds — taking them at low interest rates and lending them at high rates — he said the party would verify the end use of the funds. He alleged that a series of incidents showed the insensitivity of the government, such as farmer suicides. The chit fund scam will also be highlighted during the protests, he added.