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In Odisha, BJP tries to make inroads in BJD stronghold
The only Lok Sabha constituency of Odisha that did not fall to the massive sympathy wave for Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 election, coastal Kendrapara has always been an important seat for anti-Congress politics in the state.
The only Lok Sabha constituency of Odisha that did not fall to the massive sympathy wave for Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 election, coastal Kendrapara has always been an important seat for anti-Congress politics in the state. Having sent former chief minister Biju Patnaik to Lok Sabha in 1984 -- the only Janata Party candidate to win from Odisha that year -- the constituency has since remained a bastion of the larger Janata Parivar, from the Janata Party to the Biju Janata Dal.
Four decades on, the Bharatiya Janata Party is making a spirited effort to breach the bastion with its national vice-president Baijayant Panda -- he represented the constituency in 2009 and 2014, when he was with the BJD -- making a play for the all-important seat that goes to polls on June 1. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a letter on X addressed to Panda hailing his contribution “in advancing the cause of socio-economic inclusion within Odisha and throughout the country”.
“For more than two decades, you have been working selflessly for the people of Kendrapara. Your advocacy against malnutrition in India’s villages raises awareness and lays the foundation for progressive change that will benefit future generations. Carrying forward the legacy of your family, you have been relentlessly working for the people, progress, and prosperity of Odisha,” Modi wrote, wishing Panda victory in the Lok Sabha polls.
The suave Panda resigned from BJD in 2019 after falling out with Naveen Patnaik and contested as the BJP candidate against Odia filmstar Anubhav Mohanty. Panda lost to the filmstar, who incidentally joined the BJP last month. Over that last four years, Mohanty was more in the news for his marital battle with his former wife and filmstar Varsha Priyadarshini, who is now the BJD candidate from Badachana assembly constituency. Panda is up against BJD’s Ansuman Mohanty, the son of veteran politician, the late Nalinikanta Mohanty, who was expelled from thethe party in 2000 by CM Naveen Patnaik .
Kendrapara will be a tough contest for Panda this time too, according to Jagabandhu Biswal, a businessman in Mahakalpada and a professed supporter of BJP. The main reason for this, he adds, is “BJD’s organisational network compared to BJP”. The fact that election to the state assembly is happening alongside is a disadvantage, he believes. “ BJP’s candidates in most of the assembly segments are weaker making it difficult for Panda. But as I see it the fight is between the popularity of Prime Minister Modi and the legacy of Biju Patnaik which has been handed over to BJD.”
Kendrapara is a largely agrarian constituency where underdevelopment is a running theme. It was the only coastal district without a railway network till March this year when the first passenger train on Paradip-Haridaspur railway line started running. It is also the unofficial plumbing capital of India with plumbers from the area migrating to various cities in the country as well as places like Dubai and Oman to work. There are several ITIs where young people are trained as plumbers.
Muslims who constitute around 6 % of the 1.8 million voters in the constituency are with the BJD with many of them saying that despite his advancing age, Naveen Patnaik has been good for them. “Naveen babu takes good care of poor people like us through schemes such as Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana,” said Sk Jabbir, who runs a small tailor shop in Kendrapara town, referring to a health insurance scheme.
But there are also those longing for change -- Maheswar Parida, who works as a plumber in Bengaluru and has come back home for voting said he would prefer BJP in Lok Sabha polls as well as the assembly polls. That’s a recurring theme among young people Manoranjan Patra, an engineering graduate said tackling unemployment has been Patnaik’s biggest failure. “He could have done so much. But he did not think about setting up more industries in our district. Had he been forward looking like Modi we would have had many employment opportunities.” Indeed, even those who think Patnaik has done alright by the state, say they’d vote for the BJP in the Lok Sabha segment. “I see no reason why Naveen Patnaik should not continue as he has been doing fine. But in Delhi, Modi is doing a good job and I would vote for BJP,” said Maheshwar’s friend Jaykishore Sahoo is one such.
Kendrapada’s backwardness makes it a happy hunting ground for the BJP. Many villages of Kendrapara lack development, with water shortage being a major issue.Mohanty’s record as parliamentarian also appears to have hurt it. A local BJD leader admits as much: “Though we won the Lok Sabha poll from Kendrapara in 2019, the MP hardly came here. Besides, BJP is running a campaign that if Baijayant Panda is elected he may become a minister in the Modi government. That will surely help the BJP.”
Unwilling to lose Kendrapara, which he sees as political capital of the state, chief minister Naveen Patnaik has launched a scathing attack on Baijayant Panda, accusing him of betraying his people and working for the growth of his own business.
“I made someone the MP from Kendrapada for 10 years. However, he worked only for his own prosperity and the profit of his company without doing anything for the people. The people of Kendrapada gave him the responsibility of the area for10 years. He did nothing for the constituency and worked for himself. He betrayed me as well as the people of Kendrapada,” said Patnaik, referring to Panda.
Panda hit back saying Patnaik was making false and baseless allegations. “I joined politics to serve the people and no tfor property. The chief minister should rather list the properties amassed by five Tamils who are ruling the state. I don’t blame the chief minister because whatever the Tamil Babu is prompting him by holding the microphone before him, he is saying those things,” said Panda at an election rally in Patkur, referring to V Kartikeyan Pandian (or Kartik Pandian), a former IAS officer and private secretary to Patnaik who is now a BJP leader. Pandian has been repeatedly targeted by the BJP, which accuses him of effectively running the state, even as Patnaik’s health has deteriorated. On Wednesday, Modi himself referred to this at a meeting, saying that as a “well-wisher of Patnaik” he was worried that there was a “conspiracy” against the popular chief minister’s failing health.
