BHUBANESWAR: The BJP central leadership had so far toned down its aggression in Odisha, ruled by Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal, because of the latter’s tacit support in the Rajya Sabha. But that is going to change in the runup to 2024 Assembly elections in the state. It was made clear by BJP President JP Nadda recently when he told the party workers to work for a ‘BJD-mukt Odisha’. “To see a developed nation, we need to develop all states. And for the development of Odisha, the state has to get rid of the BJD,” he told a gathering of party workers at Samyukta Morcha Sammelan in Bhubaneswar.
Nadda also criticised the state Government for re-branding the PM housing scheme as its own – Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana. “One person is facilitating houses but the credit is being taken by another,” he said. Earlier, in his two-day visit to Odisha in the second week of August, Union Home Minister and BJP’s chief strategist Amit Shah had told the party workers that the BJP hoped to form a government in Odisha “soon”.
“Gujarat is a non-Hindi speaking state and the BJP has been in power there. It is also in power in Karnataka and now Maharashtra too. The party will rule Odisha soon,” he had said. According to BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi, Shah has asked the state cadre to work hard and have a firm strategy in place for 2024. “We have been asked to strengthen booth-level committees and Amit Shah ji emphasised the fact that if the BJP can form governments in other states, why not Odisha?” he said.
The BJP had not prioritised Odisha thus far because of Patnaik’s equation with the Modi Government, which is perceived as being largely friendly. The BJD has supported the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on most of the Bills taken up in Parliament and there was a certain ‘ambiguity’ among the leaders about the party’s roadmap for Odisha.
