In Odisha, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has set its sights on increasing its tally and vote share in the 2024 assembly as well as Lok Sabha polls, the party has set in motion an electoral plan that includes organisational changes and activities to take on the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), in what it claims will be a straight-out electoral contest.
“This time, there will be an aggressive face-off, unlike last time, when there was a lull and complacency,” said a party functionary, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The BJD is counted as a party friendly to the BJP since it supported the Union government in Parliament on a host of issues, including some contentious bills such as outlawing triple talaq and abrogating Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
The central high command has conveyed the message that there is no “friendly fight” between the two parties to the cadre that has been asked to pull its weight for the upcoming elections in 2024, when the state will pick a new assembly as well as vote for the general elections, according to multiple party functionaries.
A series of organisational activities centered on strengthening the party at the grassroots; a possible rejig in the state unit; and visits by senior leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda have been lined up.
With an eye on beneficiaries of welfare schemes and women, a category of voters who have played a pivotal role in the party’s success in various states including Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has stepped up efforts to claim credit for schemes that it says are funded by the Union government.
“The BJD government has for long been taking credit for central schemes. Take the example of the subsidised rice (Re 1 per kg) that is given under the public distribution system (PDS). The truth is that while the Union government was spending ₹37, the state’s contribution was ₹2; yet the state was taking credit,” the first funtionary said. “Now that the union government has decided to bear the entire cost of PDS rice, the BJD has been trying to mislead that the Centre has withdrawn funds.”
Similarly, attempts are being made to popularise the central government’s contribution for construction of houses under the PM Awas Yojna, which the party claims was being “hijacked” by the BJD government.
The party will focus on women and socially and economically backward communities by ensuring the implementation of targeted schemes sponsored by the Centre.
On the organisational front, apart from strengthening the booths, which is the first step followed in all states, the leadership pointed out the lacuna in the state leadership, problems that the party faces at the mandal level and an overall sense of apathy towards organisational activities.
“To begin with, the party will be forming 20-member core committees in every assembly and Lok Sabha constituency. These will include the district presidents, former contestants (who contested previous elections), office bearers from the mandal, district and state,” said a second party functionary, declining to be named. “These committees will meet every month and report to the ministers in charge of various clusters (in the state).”
The appointment of Sunil Bansal as the party’s national general secretary in charge of the state in August 2022 is an indication that the party wants to script a new electoral strategy in the eastern state where the BJD has been in power since 2000, said party leaders.
“Bansal, based on his past record, is not a peacetime general. He’s a wartime general and he’s cracked the whip. After travelling across the state for the first six months, he has conveyed that it will be an aggressive fight,” the first functionary said.
Bansal instructed the state unit to hit the ground running after he found out that many of the functionaries of the booth and mandal committee were only on paper, party leaders said. “Some of them were not active, while some claimed they were not with the BJP anymore,” the second functionary said.
While the BJP won eight Lok Sabha seats out of 21 from Odisha, and 23 seats in the 147-member assembly, party leaders blamed the BJD for misleading the saffron outfit into believing that an alliance was in the works.
“The BJD gave an impression in 2019 that it wants an alliance with the BJP and at the last minute did a volte-face. Consequently, the BJP fought a pitched battle for a month before the polls,” the first funtionary said. “This time, we are preparing well in advance.”
