Bhubaneswar, Sept. 11: The success of last week’s Naveen hatao, Odisha bachao rally has galvanised the faction-ridden state Congress, despite controversy.
Infighting, which has for long been the bane of the party, has taken a backseat, at least temporarily, with the top leadership just as charged up as the rank and file to take on the BJD.
The mood within the party, which till recently appeared resigned to the fate of playing the Opposition permanently, has changed suddenly. “We will now take this battle to the panchayat and block level. We are determined to expose corruption in the Naveen Patnaik government,” said Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Niranjan Patnaik.
Congress Bhavan, the party headquarters, which wore a deserted look only a few weeks ago, looks much alive now. The place has been bustling with activity since the day of the rally, with even district leaders paying visits to meet PCC office bearers and to chalk out strategies to strengthen the party in their respective areas with an eye on the 2014 elections.
“Our workers are in high spirits and ready to throw this corrupt government out of power,” said former Union minister Chandra Shekhar Sahu.
The rally came as a boon for the PCC president, who was under tremendous pressure to deliver. With dissidents breathing down his neck, the central party leadership wanted Patnaik to come up with a tour de force befitting his stature.
This had also become necessary in view of the fact that Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers Srikant Jena, seen by many as his possible successor, had completely overshadowed him in the recent past with his targeted attacks on chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
After the events of September 6, Niranjan Patnaik not only silenced his critics within the Congress but also succeeded in ensuring a truce, though temporary, between the warring factions of the party.
Smelling blood after a long time, the Congressmen seem ready to take on the BJD, which, surprisingly enough, is yet to come up with a fitting reply to the show of strength put up by the main Opposition party last Thursday in Bhubaneswar.
The BJD, in fact, seems to be struggling in the absence of its chief strategist Pyari Mohan Mohapatra, who was suspended from the party in the wake of an alleged failed coup against the chief minister. While the party has not been able to work its old magic on the sensitive Polavaram issue, its mass contact programme aimed to reach 80 lakh families is yet to take off. The much-awaited restructuring of the party has also not materialised though a ministry rejig took place sometime ago.
“We appear to have lost our way in the past few weeks,” said a senior party leader.
The disarray in the BJD, which sought to deflate the impact of Congress’s rally with a demonstration that went largely unnoticed, is quite visible.
Their apparent bravado notwithstanding, top BJD leaders are finding it difficult to conceal their furrowed brows.
“The rally was a face saver for the PCC president, who is facing a threat from within his own party,” said health minister and BJD vice-president Damodar Rout, in an attempt to downplay the success of the Congress show.
He did not sound convincing.
