Odisha: Turncoats May Queer Pitch For BJD-BJP Yet Naveen-Modi Stay Unfazed

Both Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are going to the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls with a band-aid solution to the wounds from their broken alliance. But one major pain persists for both parties -- the turncoats.

Both the parties, in fact, have become rehab centres, sheltering several disgruntled or disappointed leaders who have suddenly turned kind of rebels, switching over to either of the two main parties for tickets.

Quite a number of leaders of consequence from Congress have joined BJD recently, realising that the former may gain the spin-off benefits from the bellicosity between the Naveen Patnaik- led BJD and BJP.

Realising the situation, Patnaik is trying hard to entice as many leaders from Congress into his party and is giving them tickets for the Assembly seats, which he feels may help the ruling BJD tackle the rebellion within.

Although, in 2019, Congress had a vote share of 14% odd, this time it may get a boost.

In Coastal Odisha, Anshuman Mohanty, the son of Congress stalwart late Nalini Mohanty, who recently joined BJD, has high hopes from his father’s Assembly seat, almost a Congress pocket burrow till Nalini Mohanty was alive. He has been given the Lok Sabha ticket for Kendrapada, which has been a BJD stronghold for the past five elections.

Mohanty is pitted against Baijayant (Jay) Panda, a national vice president of BJP, who suffered a humiliating defeat in Kendrapada in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

It may be recalled that Panda won the Kendrapada Lok Sabha seat thrice, piggybacking on Naveen Patnaik’s popularity. Once he left BJD and joined BJP, Panda’s political career has taken a virtual nosedive.         

The most recent jolt for the saffron camp came on Wednesday when BJP state vice-president Bhrugu Buxipatra deserted the party and joined BJD. He has been given a Lok Sabha t from the prestigious Berhampur seat, which he had lost in 2019.

Buxipatra was one of the most trusted and dedicated BJP men who had been walking shoulder to shoulder with Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. He was the blue-eyed boy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

On the other side, for BJP, the big catch from the BJD camp was when Bhatruhari Mahtab, six-time winner from the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat, recently joined the saffron party to contest from the same seat.

These switch-over moves by BJD and BJP are being seen highly opportunistic, as both parties have made Congress a major poaching ground.

Seemingly fighting growing age, Patnaik wants a record sixth win and wants his legacy to be bequeathed to someone capable, while Modi wants a third tenure with brute majority. It does not matter if political scruples are thrown to the winds.

The writer is an Odisha-based freelance journalist. The views are personal.