Sunil Bansal appointment pointer in that direction?

Bhubaneswar, Aug 12: (Ajoy Kumar Misra) Since the Hyderabad National Executive Conclave and Patliputra convention of frontal organizations, the Bharatiya Janata Party appears keen to consolidate its position in Odisha further and eying better results in 2024. The recent appointment of Sunil Bansal as party’s in charge of state affairs can well be described as a step in that direction. A replacement of in-charge was necessary in the state as it had virtually become dormant with visible contradictions among top party leaders. Barring one or two leaders in the party, almost all others have become casual in their approach and the party did not fare the way it had hoped it to be in the rural and urban local bodies election held two months ago.

As a first step the party changed its Leader of Opposition replacing Pradipta Naik, under treatment for covid related complications in New Delhi, with Jaynarayan Mishra – firebrand and most vocal critic of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the Biju Janata Dal. The next hint was dropped when a section of the media speculated about Dharmendra Pradhan being the Chief Minister face of the party during the 2024 elections and finally the appointment of Sunil Bansal- a hardcore RSS cadre- in place of D Purandareswari. It is well known that the earlier in charges—Santosh Gangwar, Chandan Mitra, Arun Singh and Purandareshwri – were not that effective or did not deliver the desired result the party had expected from them. Of course to blame these leader will not be absolutely correct as these leaders could have failed due to lack of coordination among the state leaders.  Bansal being a hardcore RSS man the party appears to be pinning a lot of hope him for his effectiveness in UP where he successfully reinvigorated the party since 2014. Bansal also is believed to have clear cut instructions from the party to be on aggressive mode and push the party hard to capitalize on the reported resentment among a section of leaders in the ruling BJD. Bansal is also believed to have been instructed to prepare the strategy to lure the ‘fence-sitter’ voters towards the BJP.

The BJD juggernaut in the State continues and only a concrete and aggressive plan of the opposition can stop it. Since the Congress is on the wane, the BJP by default becomes the next choice if it succeeds in convincing the voters.

According to inside sources, Union Home Minister Amit Shah was unhappy about the lack of aggression, among the party’s top leaders, during the brief meeting he had with BJP core committee and some senior leaders. The party has failed since 2019 and its MPs and MLAs have not been successful in cornering the government on several fronts. Top leaders such as Suresh Pujari, Nitish Gangadeb, Sangita Singhdeo, Basant Panda, Jual Oram and Pratap Sarangi have not been that active as they should have been and Aparajita Sarangi has been concentrating mostly in her constituency. Bishweshar Tudu has become a minister in the Union cabinet and hence unable to devote more time for party work.

It such as situation, Amit Shah has reasons to be unhappy and the party reasons to brace up if it is ever keen to counter ever growing popularity of the ruling Biju Janata Dal. The BJP’s activities have remained confined to only press briefings by second rung leaders such as Lekhashri Samantray or Prithvi Harichandan. Bhrugu Buxipatra occasionally tries to remain in news headlines. The most surprising aspect is the near silence of the MLA and MP candidates of 2019 elections. Barring Sambit Patra, a national spokesperson of the party do manage the affairs the party at the national level while his influence over his Puri Parliament constituency is gradually losing the sheen.