BJP frames strategy to gain foothold in coastal Odisha
BLUEPRINT READY Party chief Amit Shah to visit the state on July 1, his eighth in four years NEWDELHI:
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is working towards getting a foothold in coastal Odisha and has prepared a blueprint with the twin objective of strengthening the organisation and gaining mass support, two party leaders familiar with the matter said on the condition of anonymity.
BJP president Amit Shah will be in Odisha on July 1 – his eighth visit in four years – to take stock of the preparation for 2019 when votes are cast for Parliament and the assembly simultaneously.
Shah’s visit comes shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Cuttack on the fourth anniversary of his government at the Centre. Shah was in Odisha on April 4 and 5.
“Last year’s panchayat election energised the party, but Bijepur assembly bypoll result had a dampening effect on the morale,” the first BJP leader cited above said. “We are reorganising ourselves and working towards winning new territories.”
The BJP has traditionally drawn votes in tribal pockets of western Odisha and did well during panchayat polls in Bargarh, Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj and a few others. But it was never able to breach the Biju Janata Dal’s stronghold in the state.
Of the 70 assembly segments under 10 Lok Sabha seats of coastal Odisha, the BJP could win just two seats (in Puri and Balasore districts) in 2014. It lost all 10 parliamentary seats of coastal Odisha and came second in just two, Balasore and Bhubaneswar.
It was a distant third in the Cuttack, Jajpur, Aska, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Berhampur. It polled 1.73 million votes in these 10 seats, way behind the BJD tally of 5.13 million and the Congress’ 2.69 million. “We are working towards narrowing this difference,” the second BJP leader said.
Bhubaneswar-based political analysts Rabi Dash said the BJP has its task cut out in the coastal region. “It could gain traction in some pockets because the Congress was down and out. Between since the panchayat elections, the Congress has gone through a leadership change, and it may get difficult for the BJP to eat into the party’s vote bank,” he said.
Dash claims the BJP marginalising its strong regional leaders, such as Bijoy Mahapatra, could prove counter-productive.
“We are growing in Odisha and the 2019 election will be a surprise for those ruling out the BJP,” said Arun Singh, the party’s general secretary in-charge of the state.
The BJP’s strategy, however, is two-fold, the first leader said.
First, more than two dozen local leaders from the costal districts – mostly Independents and from the Congress who polled substantial votes during panchayat elections – have been roped in to add muscles to the BJP’s otherwise fragile organisation.
Second, a series of public events of the PM, Shah and other Union ministers are being planned in the coming months. The local leaders of the party have strategically let the speculation continue about possibilities of Modi also contesting from the holy city of Puri – one of the Char Dhams – in coastal Odisha. Modi had contested from Vadodara (Gujarat) and Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) in 2014, and retained the Lok Sabha seat from the latter after winning from both seats.
Shah has said too much was being read into Modi’s Cuttack visit. “The PM holds a rally every year on the anniversary of his government. This year he chose Odisha,” he had said last month.
InMay, Unionpetroleumminister Dharmendra Pradhan had told reporters in Bhubaneswar that Modi was a devotee of Lord Jagannath, whose temple is in Puri, but the parliamentary board will take a call on the seat from which the PM will contest.