Amid speculations of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha seeking an early election, months before completion of its fifth term, the State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it was ready to face the Assembly election.
“The BJD has been preparing grounds for an early election since last one year, primarily on three grounds. The ruling party wants to take the momentum of byelection and panchayat election victories to next elections. It is well aware of growing anti-incumbency on the ground and is wary of the massive popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said Manmohan Samal, president of the Odisha unit of the BJP, while speaking to The Hindu on Thursday.
When asked how the saffron party would face the BJD as the former has managed to win only one out of the six bypolls held in the State after 2019, Mr. Samal said, “Byelections are generally won by the party in power. The ruling party utilises all its administrative and financial resources at its disposal to ensure victories. In Odisha, there have been instances of parties losing power after coming afresh from bypoll wins.”
The BJP president charged that in anticipation of an early poll, the BJD was preparing itself and positioning massive funds in every Assembly constituency. “The BJD is sitting on huge cash. This time people will not let the ruling party buy votes. The fund movement will be halted by people as well as our cadres,” he said.
On the BJP’s own preparation to face the election, Mr. Samal said, “The party has already strengthened its booth-level committees. We have now presence in every booth except some areas dominated by minority communities.”
“We are now preparing ourselves for a month-long intense door-to-door campaign to make people aware about welfare schemes being implemented by the Modi government at the Centre during the last nine years. We are hopeful that people would surely differentiate between State and Central programmes,” he said.
According to Mr. Samal, the margin between votes polled by the BJD and BJP was slender in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Now, people are desperately seeking a change and it would be reflected in the results of the next State and General elections, he said.
Mr. Samal predicted that there would be an implosion within the regional party when the dates of the elections are announced.
“During the past 14 years, MLAs and MPs have been struggling to meet the Odisha CM personally. They are humiliated at the hand of middle-level government officials and bureaucrats who have blocked the access to Mr. Patnaik. BJD’s top leadership is unaware of what is brewing on the ground,” he said.
