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Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Odisha will strengthen the party’s prospects ahead of the Lok Sabha and Odisha Assembly elections.
Shah’s visit is noteworthy since the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has lately expressed its full support for the Narendra Modi administration in enacting the Delhi services bill.
The BJD has also stated that it will vote against the no-trust motion proposed by the opposition parties in Parliament.
Previously, the BJD had backed the Modi government on a number of matters, including the passage of critical legislation. This time, though, the party has gone a step further and publicly declared its support for the Centre.
The ruling BJD’s announcement has heightened the political atmosphere in the state, and it is being discussed in political circles and among the intellectual class as to what prompted the regional party to extend full support to the Centre despite the fact that the BJP is the state’s main opposition party.
This unexpected suggested visit by Shah, who is regarded as the BJP’s second-most prominent leader after Prime Minister Modi, to Odisha has fueled conjecture about the good relationship between the BJP and the BJD at the national level.
Previously, the BJD gave the BJP a full-term Rajya Sabha seat, which Ashwini Vaishnaw won and now serves as a Cabinet Minister in the Modi government. All these activities add fuel to speculations raised on the close relation between the BJP and BJD.
Odisha contains 21 Lok Sabha constituencies, eight of which were won by the BJP in 2019, 12 by the BJD, and one by the Congress.
Amit Shah had set a target of 120 seats or more for the Odisha BJP in the 2019 Assembly elections.
In the 147-seat Odisha Assembly, the BJD won 113 seats, the BJP 23, the Congress nine, one CPI (M), and one Independent.
The BJP’s Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Odisha grew in the 2019 elections, prompting the party to go on a quest to increase the number of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in the 2024 elections.
While Union Ministers are touring various parliamentary constituencies as part of the Lok Sabha Pravas Yojana, senior BJP leaders, including State party In-charge Sunil Bansal, are meeting to plan a strategy to enhance the party’s base in these areas.
Following the dissolution of the BJD-BJP coalition government in 2009, Naveen Patnaik has kept an equal distance from both the BJP and the Congress. However, it has backed the Modi government through critical periods.
There are also concerns concerning the holding of early elections in the state. According to the schedule, Shah will share the stage with Odisha Chief Minister while attending official functions.
It is unclear whether the two senior officials will engage in any political discussions. All eyes are now on the visit of Shah and his meeting with state BJP leaders.
Odisha BJP President Manmohan Samal commented on the scheduled visit of the Union Home Minister, saying that Shah’s micro-management and micro-planning strategies are being remembered.
“He (Amit Shah) is coming. Whatever direction and suggestions, he will give us, we will take up those and move accordingly,” Samal added.
The BJP will fight in all 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats against the BJD in upcoming elections, he said.
Senior BJD MLA Susanta Singh said, “The BJD has maintained equidistance from both Congress and BJP. We have strength and the organisation to win the election with a thumping majority in both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, without forming any alliance.”
Singh went on to say that he does not expect any coalition with the BJP in the 2019 elections, and he believes that Naveen Patnaik will be sworn in as Chief Minister of Odisha for the sixth time.
On the other hand, Congress leader Taraprasad Bahinipati stated that “both the BJP and the BJD are two sides of the same coin,” and Shah is in Odisha to congratulate the BJD on its support for the Modi government on the two critical topics in Parliament.
Source:IANS
