BHUBANESWAR: Gradually recovering from the shock he received from the local body poll debacles in February, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday took the battle to the rival BJP camp by saying Union tribal minister Jual Oram was indul-ging in a “wishful thinking” about a split in the ruling BJD. “He (Jual Oram) is indul-ging in wishful thinking. This BJD stands united and will remain united,” said Mr Patnaik while replying to questions from the media here.
On Tuesday, Mr Oram had stated that the BJD was heading towards a virtual split due to “growing dissensions” in the party and some of its leaders were in touch with the BJP central leaders to join the saffron brigade. The CM had literally kept mum ever since the party lost out 178 seats to the BJP in the rural polls held in February this year. What has added to Mr Patnaik’s concern is a fear of a split in the BJD soon after the poll debacles. In an article in a leading Odia daily, BJD’s Lok Sabha member Baijayant Jay Panda had said the regional party was caught in the quagmire of corruption and nepotism and goon-daism, as had been the case during the Congress rule in the state in the later part of the 1990s.
Mr Panda attributed the BJD’s poor show to corruption, nepotism and “patronisation of hooliganism”. While suggesting that the Chief Minister take corrective measures, Mr Panda had indirectly cautioned the BJD chief that any delay in addressing the issues would further weaken the party. After Mr Panda’s article created flutter in political circles, Mr Patnaik embar-ked upon a week-long interaction programme with the newly elected panchayat representatives to get their feedback on the reasons for the party’s poor show in the polls.
Sources in the BJD said that, having been assured of rock solid support by the panchayat representatives during the interaction sessions, the Chief Minister on Wednesday preferred to take the battle into the enemy’s camp by attacking the Union minister Mr Oram. Of late, after it spectacular show in rural polls, the BJP has launched a multi-pronged attack on the CM, to wrest power from him in the 2019 Assembly elections.
