In shift from past, BJD opens its doors wide for turncoats

ntil Wednesday, Bhrugu Baxipatra, previously the vicepresident of the State BJP unit, was firmly entrenched within the party. However, his career trajectory swiftly changed direction following his resignation from the party he had long been associated with. Come evening, Mr. Baxipatra found himself nominated as the

Lok Sabha candidate for the Berhampur constituency for the Biju Janata Dal, a party he contested against in the 2019 election.

Manmath Routray, son of senior Congress leader Suresh Chandra Routray, joined the BJD on March 27. On the same day, his name appeared on the regional party’s list of MP candidates. The debutant will now lock horn with Aparajita Sarangi, BJP’s national spokesperson.

This turn of events marks a notable departure for the BJD, a party that has historically been highly sought after in Odisha since its establishment in 1997, and one that has never struggled to find suitable candidates. It has so far announced candidates for 20 out of 21 seats in the State.

The election year seems to be an exception as five leaders who switched sides have been swiftly rewarded by the BJD.

Parinita Mishra’s career followed a similar trajectory to that of Mr. Baxipatra. Within hours of joining the party on April 3, Ms. Mishra’s candidacy for the Bargarh constituency was officially announced.

Meanwhile, Surendra Singh Bhoi, a former Congress MLA from Balangir district, had to wait a couple of days before his candidature for the Balangir seat was announced.

The longest wait among five was for Anshuman Mohanty who is now the BJD candidate for the Kendrapara seat. Mr. Mohanty had shifted allegiance from the Congress to the BJD in February. He had to wait more than a month for finalisation of his candidature on BJD ticket.

UApart from these turncoats, the case of Santrupta Mishra, former head of Human Resource of Aditya Birla Group, is also interesting. In February, immediately after he joined BJD, he was made party spokesperson. In March, Mr. Mishra was named the party’s candidate for the Cuttack seat.

The nomination of six new entrants pointed to the fact that the BJD was not focussed for Lok Sabha election by not grooming its own leaders for seats.

The breakdown in alliance negotiation had apparently caught the regional party unaware, especially for the Lok Sabha election where Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s popularity is seen as one of biggest deciding factors in Odisha.

Senior journalist and political commentator Rabi Das noted that accommodating turncoats has become a national trend. The BJP, for instance, has swiftly fielded numerous leaders who recently joined the party, he said.

According to Mr. Das, the rationale behind such decisions lies in the belief that candidates who were in the Opposition just days ago may bring more value to the table than the BJD’s own aspirants.