‘At present the BJP has too many hurdles to cross before it can even think of having Odisha in sight’
By SUNJOY HANS
Editor-in-Chief
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik is probably right in not losing sleep over the possibility of a regional alternative front coming along to give the Biju Janata Dal a run for its money in the elections next year.
Over the past few weeks, especially after the BJD parted ways with veteran politician Damodar Rout, some political circles and sections of the media had been rife with speculation that the Bharatiya Janata Party was trying to create in Odisha an environment conducive to the creation of a powerful political outfit – comprising former and disgruntled BJD leaders – with which it could join hands to finally push the BJD out of power next year.
If there ever was such a plan, it must be looking like a distant dream now, as the Narendra Modi government suddenly seems to have a little too much on its plate.
After the French media reported former France President Francois Hollande as claiming that the Indian government had recommended a particular private firm for the Rafale offset deal, Opposition parties in India found a golden opportunity to corner the Modi government over what had already been a controversial issue.
Both Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party have called for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into India’s deal with France involving purchase of Rafale jets.
Of course, the BJP has fought back with counterclaims of a nexus between Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s brother-in-law Robert Vadra and arms dealer and middleman Sanjay Bhandari that had reportedly led to the cancellation of the first Rafale deal in 2012 – but the pressure, many political experts say, now seems to be on the saffron party more than ever before to prove its innocence.
Beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s claims of meeting Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley before leaving for Britain, combined with the unfortunately rising instances of fugitive economic offenders in this country, has also given Opposition parties substantial ammunition to attack the Modi government.
Then there have been a few other issues, undeniably of its own making, for which the Modi government has been facing heat of late.
Start with its ordinance on triple talaq. Passing the ordinance at a time when as many as five state assembly elections are around the corner and when a bill on the issue is pending Rajya Sabha approval, the BJP has not only exposed itself to more criticism from Opposition but also to more misgivings from the Muslim community and other minorities. Many political and religious leaders have accused the saffron party of taking the step autocratically, without due consultation with the parties involved or impacted.
The RSS’s rising presence on the national scene, with the recent conclusion of the World Hindu Congress in Chicago and the three-day lecture in New Delhi, has only fuelled speculation that the BJP is following the dictats of its ideological fountainhead.
While these remain in the realm of mere speculation, the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act – in order to uphold the individual right to privacy – has been widely seen as a slap on the wrist of Modi government. But that’s a story for another day.
At present the BJP has too many hurdles to cross before it can even think of having Odisha in sight. n
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