BJP unveils its twin agenda to win Odisha
local icons.
It also hopes to build on the wide network of Sangh Parivar outfits that have been working in rural areas for decades, particularly to counter Christian missionary activity. While Muslims comprise a mere two per cent of the population, there exists a resonance for Hindutva consolidation in the state. Recent violence, which had stemmed from communal tensions, Bhadrak has touched a raw nerve.
Pradhan says Odisha has become a "laboratory of the PM's welfare of the poor agenda", and details how Odisha has benefitted with greater devolution under the 14th Finance Commission, more national highways are being constructed in the state and central allocations for rural housing is at an all-time high.
Beyond welfare politics, the BJP has assiduously worked to appropriate regional icons. On Sunday, the PM will meet descendents of the warriors who had taken part in the 1817 Paika rebellion, considered the first armed rebellion against the British East India Company.
The venue for the BJP national executive has been named after 19th century Oriya poet Bhima Bhoi. The Dalit poet has a following across Odisha and Jharkhand, and his philosophy, "let the world get redeemed at my cost", is inscribed on the wall of the UN Hall.
Other Odisha icons it has included in its pantheon are social reformer Gopabandhu Das and freedom fighter Veer Surendra Sai. Whenever they are in Odisha, top BJP leaders, including Modi and Shah, visit the Jagannath temple and the Samaleswari temple in Sambalpur, and also pay their respects to the Shankaracharya of Puri.
But as the recent panchayat polls showed with the BJP winning most of the seats in areas where the Congress had been stronger, the only person standing between Modi and Shah's dream of installing a BJP government in Bhubaneswar is Naveen Patnaik.