Ratcheting up Bharatiya Janata Party’s main poll plank of Odia Asmita (pride) in the simultaneous polls to the State Assembly and Lok Sabha next month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president J.P. Nadda seem to have begun the party’s electoral campaign targeting the rise of V.K. Pandian, the Tamil Nadu born former IAS officer who is presumed to be the successor of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
By raking up issues with apparent reference to the non-Odia origin of Mr. Pandian, who has emerged as the de facto chief of BJD in 2024 polls, Mr. Modi and Mr. Nadda seem to be hitting the BJD where it hurts most.
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Hailing from Tamil Nadu, Mr. Pandian is a former IAS officer who served as the private secretary to the Odisha CM. After voluntarily retirement from IAS position months ago, he was appointed as the chairman of 5T Transformation, a role equivalent to that of a cabinet minister.
While he doesn’t hold any official position within the BJD, he wields considerable influence within the party, with few daring to oppose him. Political analysts remarked that he might take over from ageing Mr. Patnaik, who is largely seen as fighting his last election. The ascent of Mr. Pandian has left seasoned leaders both within and outside the BJD sulking.
Opposition BJP and Congress sensed the opportunity to corner the regional party, which was founded with an objective to protect Odia pride and prioritise development of Odisha, over the issue of Mr. Pandian. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too took name of Mr. Pandian in his last public meeting in Odisha.
In a coordinated attack, leaders of the Odisha unit of BJP have long been targeting the former bureaucrat. Every action of Mr. Pandian goes through scrutiny. The BJP was unsparing in its attack when the bureaucrat-turned-BJD leader had allegedly facilitated social media influencer Kamya Jani’s visit to the Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri last year. The saffron party had alleged that Ms. Jani was known for promoting beef consumption and demanded action against Mr. Pandian. Dozens of memes mimicking his Tamil-accent Odia have made it to social networking sites.
In the no-holds-barred campaign, the State unit of BJP recently released a 60-page booklet portraying Mr. Pandian as the face of corruption and mismanagement. The former bureaucrat’s photographs featured in 15 separate pages while the image of the Odisha CM appeared only on 10 pages.
When Mr. Pandian toured all districts as 5T Secretary to receive grievances of people by helicopter in 2023, the BJP had also launched a fierce attack accusing him of wielding extra-constitutional power and splurging the State’s fund. The sight of senior ministers and prominent BJD figures clearing traffic on the road to facilitate Mr. Pandian’s convoy did not augur well with the public.
Though former Odisha-cadre bureaucrats such as Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Member of Parliament Aparajita Sarangi, who hail from other States, are active in the State’s politics and members of BJP too, no one is perceived to be so close to taking over Odisha’s mantle like Mr. Pandian.
According to top BJP leaders, there was resonance disapproving Mr. Pandian succeeding Odisha CM and people were critical about it. Now, as BJP and BJD are squared up for a direct fight, the BJP leaders have raked up Odia pride as the poll issue.
In an interview to private TV channel, Mr. Modi said, “the erosion of Odia pride is becoming increasingly apparent and Odia pride is in danger. Odia language is also facing crisis. I don’t think Odias will tolerate it for long.”
In a public meeting near Berhampur on Sunday, Mr. Nadda said there was effort to import an ‘outsider’ and make him successor in the State. On a satirical note, he asked if Odisha was not left with any of its own leaders to lead the State.
Not bogged down by protracted attack, Mr. Pandian has once again resumed touring different districts as star campaigner of BJD for the election, trying to prove the old adage that the best form of defence is good offence.
The BJD issued a statement saying, “For thousands of years, proud Odias have always protected the Odia culture very fiercely. Odia Culture does not need a political party like Odisha BJP to protect it. The Odia culture is far greater and bigger than any political party in the world that any party can consider itself so big to think of protecting Odia culture.”
“It is important to understand Odisha BJP culture first. Its culture is to get all political leaders who have heinous crimes against them and are habitual criminal offenders to become their leaders and take party tickets to contest elections as seen in 2024,” the regional party said.
The BJD brought up criminal cases pending against BJP leaders alleging the saffron party was promoting criminalisation of politics in Odisha. “This is not Odia culture. The true Odisha BJP culture,” the regional party said.
