The local body polls in Odisha may have handed a jolt to the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) but senior party MP Bhratruhari Mahtab told The Hindu there is every chance that the party will recover its position by 2019, the year both Assembly elections in the State and general elections are due.
Mr. Mahtab compared his party’s performance to the BJP’s show in local polls in Gujarat in the immediate aftermath of the Patidar agitation led by Hardik Patel.
The BJP had lost most rural panchayats while managing to hold on to city bodies.
“We have seen a 3% dip in our vote share in the Zilla Parishad elections, compared to the 2014 elections, but this comparison is unfair because the panchayat and Assembly elections are on two different trajectories, the platforms are different. So what has happened in Zilla Parishad elections need not be or will not be repeated in Parliament and Assembly polls. And if you make a comparison between what has happened in Gujarat when local polls were held after Hardik Patel’s agitation, the BJP was in a very bad shape. I’m just making a comparison. The BJP was also in a bad shape in Gujarat after the Patel agitation. But yes, a fall in 3% vote is a point of concern, which our party is taking up in full earnest, and already the leader of the party [Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik] has started interacting with grass-roots level leaders, district wise and has given a call to our party leaders to get involved in people’s issues and be among them as much as possible,” he said in an exclusive interview.
Mr. Mahtab, one of the seniormost MPs in his party, admitted that much of the space that had been grabbed by the BJP may have been with the Congress earlier, but said that this was no reason for the BJD to be complacent.
“The space for the Congress has shrunk from 26% vote share in 2014 to 13% and the BJP’s surge is from 18% to 30.33% so there is an increase of BJP by 12.5% or so and Congress has lost by 13%. But, having said so, in politics, arithmetic is one thing, chemistry is another and we are conscious about it. Wherever there have been any missteps, there are corrections being made,” he said.
Asked about the public airing of differences between his Parliament colleagues Tathagata Satpathy and Baijayan “Jay” Panda, Mr. Mahtab was reluctant to comment.
“You may put these questions to the gentlemen concerned,” he said.
Mr. Mahtab also dismissed suggestions that the BJD was supportive of everything related to demonetisation and distinguished between the event and its handling.
“The idea of tackling black money through demonetisation was accepted by the BJD, and Mr. Naveen Patnaik came out openly in support of it. But the party has, in the Assembly, spoken about the effect on the people. The Chief Minister had written to the Prime Minister asking what steps needed to be taken to alleviate the situation. Finance Ministry and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials had visited Odisha and were appreciative of the logistical help extended during that period including the State government providing helicopters for the movement of cash to remote areas,” he said.
“We are sitting in Opposition. We are opposed to this government but not opposing it for the sake of opposition. Our stated position is equidistance from the BJP and Congress,” he said.
He also termed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s call for an anti-BJP front as an idea on which it was too early to comment. “It is too early to comment on an idea like this,” he said.
