Why Baijayant Panda quitting BJD could be a game-changer for BJP in Odisha
Tucked away in a corner in several leading newspapers on Monday, May 28, a small news item announced the resignation of Baijayant "Jay" Panda from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
The 54-year-old was twice elected to the Lok Sabha from Kendrapara. In fact, his predecessor, Archana Nayak, quit the BJD to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2009. Now that Jaybhai has also quit the BJD, it seems as if Kendrapara, once considered a safe seat for BJD, is proving unlucky to the party.
Before winning from Kendrapara, Panda served in the Rajya Sabha from 2000-09 as a representative of the BJD. With an impressive 18-year association, he is certainly one of our best known and impressive parliamentarians. Indeed, over the years, especially when he was frequently on national TV as the national spokesman of his party, he came to be known and admired all over the country.
Career politician
I have heard him speaking at important forums on a variety of topic, always finding him not only well-informed and stimulating but also inspiring and charismatic. Not only as one of our ablest and well-spoken MPs, but also a career politician with a clean image and new ideas, he is indeed brilliant. No wonder he would be a great asset to any political party.
One of the founding members of the BJD when the party was formed nearly 20 years back, he has been one of Naveen Patnaik’s closest allies and supporters. But earlier this year, on January 24, Patnaik suspended him from the BJD for “anti-party activities”.
Panda responded on Twitter: “I’m shocked at this news. Very very sad @Naveen_Odisha didn’t see thru the conspiracy against me led by an IAS officer now controlling the party. I vehemently deny the allegations against me, they are entirely false and baseless. I will pray to Jagannath for guidance before I respond further.”
After waiting for four months, Jay submitted his three-page resignation on Monday: “It was with deep anguish, hurt and sorrow that I have decided to quit the kind of politics into which our BJD has descended.”
Panda, who suffered a personal bereavement in losing his father, Bansidhar Panda, last week, continues, “Although things have been going from bad to worse for the past four years, it has plumbed the absolute depths of inhumanity when neither you nor anyone from the BJD turned up to pay their last respects to my father Dr Bansidhar Panda, who as everyone knows was a very close friend, supporter and associate of Biju uncle for many decades.”
Panda’s equation with Patnaik changed after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014. The BJD, once an ally of BJP, broke the alliance ostensibly because of Patnaik’s dislike for Modi. Panda, on the other hand, has been an open admirer of the prime minister, praising the latter’s dynamic policies and leadership.
Though Panda is popular in his constituency and respected all over the state, few in the BJD have dared to back him. On the other hand, it seems as if the BJP is willing to receive him with open arms. Union minister of petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan is reported to have said, “All good people who accept the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah are welcome into the BJP.”
Saffron moment
The question is whether Panda can challenge Patnaik to emerge as the chief ministerial candidate in 2019. Though such speculation may be somewhat premature, Jay Panda could well be the game-changer that the BJP needs in the eastern state.
The BJP has already emerged as the second-largest party in the state. In preparation for the 2019 state elections, several leaders from both the Congress and the BJD have defected to the BJP. There is no doubt that Modi and Shah would want to take their winning formula to this state as well. In this campaign, the articulate, educated and capable Jaybhai, with his huge personal wealth, may well pose a serious challenge to Patnaik.
Smear campaign
Perhaps this was the reason behind the smear campaign against Panda by BJD cadres and other detractors. Panda, with his considerable fortune derived from mining, power, real estate, hospitality and media, was accused of being a loan defaulter during the 2015 monsoon session of Parliament.
Two of his companies, Indian Charge Crome Ltd (ICCL) and Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys (IMFA), were especially targeted. Panda has denied the charges. Panda was also accused of not campaigning for and supporting BJD candidates. A media critic has called him an “erudite, rich and connected, but a rootless politician”.
But Patnaik, though still popular, is not invincible. The BJD, we must remember, has been in power for two decades. A certain degree of voter fatigue, not to speak of anti-incumbency, is bound to seep in after such a long inning.
If Panda joins the BJP, if he secures the support of its bosses as also of the local rank and file, if he rises to the occasion to become an all Odisha leader, he certainly has every chance of being the state’s next chief minister. True, there are many “ifs”, if not “buts”, in the above projection, but personally, I believe that it will be the best thing for Odisha politics as also for the people of the state.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)