As the BJP's first government in Odisha hits the six-month mark on December 12, the party's central leadership is seemingly working on a long-term vision for the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to camp in Bhubaneswar from November 29 to December 1 in connection with the all-India DGP conference which will be held in Odisha for the first time. This will also be Modi's first continuous three-day stay in the state after his party formed the government.
He will return on January 8 to inaugurate the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to be held in Bhubaneshwar for the first time. This hints that the BJP wants to consolidate its base in Odisha.
After dislodging the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal government from power in the last elections, the BJP has experimented with a tribal chief minister by installing Mohan Charan Majhi as nearly one-fourth of the state’s population are tribals.
ALSO READ: Mohan Majhi: From village sarpanch to Odisha CM
Not only did Modi attend the new ministry’s swearing-in ceremony at Bhubaneswar last June, he also came again on his birthday on September 17 to launch the Subhadra Yojana in which each woman gets Rs 5,000 twice a year. It is this programme that helped BJP get women's votes in the assembly and Lok Sabha polls held together.
Besides Subhadra Yojana, the state also launched a paddy procurement scheme in which farmers get Rs 800 extra per quintal of paddy procured in addition to MSP fixed by the Union government. This was also the party’s other main election promise aimed at garnering the vote of farmers in the paddy belt of western Odisha.
This, however, was not the first time the BJP was in power in Odisha. In the late 90s it had tied up with newly-formed regional outfit BJD by becoming his junior partner. The BJD-BJP alliance won the 1998, 1999 and 2004 Lok Sabha polls.
ALSO READ: How the 'double-engine' govt in Odisha has fared so far
The alliance also came to power in the state in 2000 by dislodging the Congress government post the super cyclone mishandling scenario. The coalition ministry led by Patnaik ruled for two terms. But the BJD quit the alliance after the Kandhamal communal riot in 2008 in which the Sangh Parivar was allegedly involved.
But the BJD alone swept all assembly and Lok Sabha polls till its defeat in 2024. The last 10 years saw the BJP strengthened its position and became the main opposition party, pushing Congress to third position. This culminated in the party forming its first government in the state in June.
After the election disaster, two BJD Rajya Sabha MPs - Mamta Mohanta and Sujeet Kumar - resigned from parliament and party to join the BJP. The BJP renominated Mohanta to the Rajya Sabha in the first byelection for Rajya Sabha which helped the BJP increase its number in Rajya Sabha.
Whether the BJP will repeat the same strategy in the case of Sujeet Kumar is yet to be seen. The byelection will be held on December 30. A BJP win is assured as there may not be more contestants. Speculations are that the BJP may try to poach other BJD Rajya Sabha members. The BJD has seven more members in the upper house.
Though BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik is now the Leader of the Opposition in state assembly and his party is taking a strong anti-BJP stand, the party still centres around his charisma. But Patnaik's age is an issue and he will be 83 during the next elections. His public appearance was limited during the recent elections too, which gave an impression that Patnaik is not doing well. Though his trusted aide, Tamil Nadu-born Odisha cadre IAS officer V.K. Pandian took early retirement from service to join BJD, it failed to work.
Patnaik, a bachelor, was brought from Delhi's high society life to Odisha politics by the followers of his legendary father, former Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik after the latter’s death in 1997.
Though the BJP has been talking about getting his nephew or niece (his elder brother's children) from Delhi to lead the party, there is no sign of it yet.
The other opponent of the BJP is Congress, which has improved its tally in the last elections. It won one Lok Sabha seat like in 2019 and got more in the assembly. But its poor performance helped the BJP indirectly.
In such a scenario, it is only natural that the BJP tries to consolidate its strength.
However, the BJP’s problem is that it is a high command-controlled party like the Congress. Before Naveen Patnaik, the Congress Chief Ministers were rushing to Delhi frequently to get instructions and guidance.
Though Patnaik was a Delhiite, he rarely visited Delhi. But, the present Chief Minister Majhi’s repeated visits to Delhi remind one of former Congress chief minister J.B. Patnaik’s regular Delhi visits.
Since BJD was a regional party, it had just one boss. The elevation of Majhi has given hope to other aspirants. According to a senior BJP leader, there was no vacancy for the chief minister’s post for the last two decades, but now anybody who matters carry the hope.
For instance, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Many within the party feel things could have been different if Pradhan was the chief minister, especially during the Dana cyclone crisis and the death of three tribal women in Mandipanka village following the consumption of mango kernel gruel. This showed poverty and food crisis despite the government's welfare programme.
Majhi is however taking more business initiatives. He attended a roadshow in Mumbai for the state’s flagship business summit 'Utkarsha Odisha: Make in Odisha Conclave-2025 ' scheduled for January 28 and 29 at Bhubaneswar.
He also visited Singapore this month for four days with his officials to attract investment for the state. This was his first foreign visit. To bring investment to his own mineral-rich Kenjhar district, he recently succeeded in persuading South Korea’s POSCO and Indian group JSW to set up a steel plant in his area.
Though the conferences of Director General of Police are usually held in other states outside Delhi, this time the Centre decided to have it at Bhubaneswar. Intelligence sources said though Raipur in Chhatisgarh and Guwahati in Assam were considered, Bhubaneswar was chosen as the venue.
Besides Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah and NSA Ajit Doval will attend the conference.
The prime minister will have political programmes during the visit. On Friday, he will be felicitated outside the airport by party people. He will then proceed to Rajbhavan and then to BJP party office at Bhubaneswar where he will attend a meeting of ministers, party MLAs and MPs.
During his visit on January 8 to Bhubaneswar, Modi will inaugurate 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas which will see President Droupadi Murmu chair the valedictory session and confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards.
These programmes give a political message in favour of the BJP. It indirectly says Odisha’s national recognition is more now that the BJP has come to power in the state. Then there is also a Navy Day celebration in Puri on December 4.
The event which will see at least 24 warships and 40 aircraft, including helicopters and fighter jets, will demonstrate the Navy’s maritime capabilities and operational strength through aerial manoeuvres and other exercises. The Navy has invited about 7,500 guests to attend the event.
The BJP has also suddenly taken interest in Dr Harekrishna Mahtab, Odisha’s first chief minister and freedom fighter. Both the Union government and the Odisha government have decided to observe the late leader’s 125th anniversary.
Paying homage to Dr Mahtab, Prime Minister Modi has reiterated the government’s commitment to fulfilling his ideals. While BJP governments in Centre and Odisha are going in a big way to celebrate the late leader’s 125th anniversary, there is a political angle to it.
Since BJD has named Biju Patnaik as the most popular leader in post-independence Odisha and its party leaders say they follow his ideology, the BJP wants to counter the same by reviving Mahtab’s contributions.
Mahtab’s son Bhartruhari Mahtab, who had been a BJD MP since 1998, has also joined the BJP before the last election. He has been reelected to the Parliament, which justifies the commemoration.
A committee has been formed at the national level under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah for this with many prominent persons from Odisha included in it. Some BJP leaders say they want to highlight Odia asmita (pride) bringing the late Dr Mahtab’s role into the discussion. How that will help BJP politically is a question. But if history is to be reopened, Biju Patnaik was considered to be a political disciple of Dr Mahtab, though later they had fallen out while in Congress.
At the national level, the BJP is trying to attack Jawaharlal Nehru and his family giving more weightage to Sardar Patel. Dr Mahtab belonged to the Patel camp. He was made a CWC member by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose when the latter was Congress president. Netaji was in the opposite camp of Gandhi and Nehru. So, the BJP has more justification to highlight a protégé of these leaders.
