In Odisha, Congress Won’t Let Naveen Patnaik’s BJD Have it Easy

Image source: TheQuint.com

With the assembly elections due in Odisha in early 2019 alongside the parliamentary elections, the bugle has been sounded.

Although there is still time for the Central Election Commission to make necessary notifications for the Lok Sabha and assembly polls in Odisha, political parties in the state have begun their election-related exercises already.

A few media and survey agencies have also started fuelling the political mood of an election through different speculations.

When Political Parties Question Media Neutrality

As the media fraternity in Odisha gets increasingly vocal about protecting freedom of speech and ensuring a free media, a few political parties in the state have decided to stage a confrontation.

While, in the most recent case, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the ruling party of Odisha, has openly declared a boycott of the OTV, alleging that the channel has been carrying news and views intentionally against the interests of the party, nearly a month back part of the media in the state also felt that the Odisha chapter of BJP was planning to boycott another channel, Kalinga TV, for similar reasons. But the BJP didn’t publicly claim a boycott, the way the BJD did on 21 March 2018 through a press conference.

Is Baijayant planning for a new party?

What now looks more likely is that Baijayant Panda may float a regional political party to counter BJD by engineering an alliance with BJP in Odisha following the same formula BJD used to oust Congress from power in the State.

Since his ouster from Biju Janata Dal, everyone in Odisha is speculative on Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda’s next political move, what would be his next move and which party would he opt to land up in. And, if not joining any party, what could be his next course of action? Is he planning for a new party because the current political situation is quite similar to that of the 1997 when the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) emerged by splitting the old Janata Dal?

Odisha Farmers Struggle for Survival

The state and central governments are likely to increase the focus on agriculture in their budgets. But the question remains: when will farmers receive the benefits of all these plans and programmes, and more importantly, how will they overcome the present crisis?

BJD red carpet for royals, short shrift to women

Democracy, they say, begins where feudalism ends. But political parties in Odisha, the poorest state in the country, obviously have other ideas. At least 13 scions of ‘royal’ families have been fielded by various political parties for the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state this time.

Curiously, as many as 10 out of the 13 have been nominated by the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), a party that has never tired of tom-tomming its ‘pro-people’ and ‘pro-poor’ credentials. While seven of them have been fielded in Assembly elections, three have been nominated for Lok Sabha polls, ironically from constituencies that comprise some of the poorest regions in the state: Kalahandi, Bolangir and Kandhamal.