BJP’s Orissa, Centre leaders in cold war

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi setting his eyes on Orissa, a cold war has broken out between saffron leaders from the state and the Centre. In an otherwise faction-ridden BJP state unit, senior leaders have joined forces to block Union ministers Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan from positioning themselves as the saffron faces of the state.

Sources disclosed that senior state leaders Bijoy Mahapatra, K.V. Singh Deo and Dilip Ray have joined hands to make sure that the chief minister is chosen from the BJP’s state unit if the party gets a chance next time to form a government in the Biju Janata Dal-ruled state. While the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD has been ruling the state since 2000, the Congress is the main Opposition in the state Assembly.

With the BJD hit by anti-incumbency and corruption charges and the Congress losing ground, BJP spin doctors have began working to put the state in the saffron kitty in the next Assembly elections. The plan includes allocation of Central funds and frequent visits to Orissa by other Central ministers.

But the major concern of the saffron cadre is that the party’s top brass refrains from attacking Mr Patnaik and his party strongly enough. The BJD is often seen supporting the BJP-led NDA government in Parliament on various issues and a section within the BJP is not in favour of disturbing this equation with the Naveen Patnaik-led party.

Both Mr Pradhan and Mr Oram, who are from Orissa, have been visiting the state on a regular basis where they meet party cadres and attend party events. Speculation is rife that both Union ministers are positioning themselves for the top post in the state. But the state leaders are against this.

Despite its stunning performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had managed only one parliamentary seat out Orissa’s total of 21.