Tribals, activists burn copies of land acquisition Ordinance

PRAFULLA DAS

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Activists and tribals burning the copies of the Ordinance.– Photo: Special Arrangement

Hundreds of Dangaria Kandha tribal men and women joined a large group of anti-displacement activists of the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti atop the Niyamgiri hills in Odisha’s Kalahandi district on Sunday and burnt copies of the land acquisition Ordinance recently promulgated by the Narendra Modi Government.

“Pro-corporate”

The tribals and activists, who came together at the end of the three-day annual Niyam Raja Parab atop the hills, resolved that they would continue to oppose the “pro-corporate” Ordinance till it is withdrawn.

The activists announced a State-wide agitation against the Ordinance that they say goes against the Forest Rights Act rendering the Gram Sabhas powerless.

Copies of the Ordinance were also burnt by many people’s organisations at various places across Odisha simultaneously to strengthen their opposition to the Centre’s move.

The tribals, who won their battle against mining of bauxite from Niyamgiri hills by Vedanta for its existing one million tonne per annum capacity alumina refinery, also vowed to strongly oppose any move by the Centre to consider handing over of Niyamgiri to the company in the future.

The Samiti is also opposed to the existing alumina refinery which is being run by Sterlite Industries Ltd, a Vedanta group company, as the same is adversely affecting the ecology in the area. The Samiti is contemplating to move the court of law seeking permanent closure of the refinery, said Samiti leader Lada Sikaka.

The annual cultural festival is being organised in a big way since the anti-Vedanta agitation by the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti gained strength several years ago. It is attended by tribals from 112 villages in the Niyamgiri hills.

The Rebirth in Puri

BY PRAFULLA DAS IN PURI

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Puri is getting ready to host over five million devotees and also a huge number of tourists during Nabakalebara, the life-force-infusing ritual in the Jagannath cult, in July. By PRAFULLA DAS in Puri

ODISHA is gearing up to celebrate this millennium’s first Nabakalebara festival of Lord Jagannath in the pilgrim town Puri, which will culminate with the annual rath yatra on July 18.

Nabakalebara is a 65-day-long rare and elaborate ritual of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Sudarshana relinquishing their old bodies (idols) and assuming new ones. The previous Nabakalebara was held in 1996.

Over five million devotees are expected to converge on Puri this year to witness the event, which is envisaged to be one of the largest congregations of people, in not just India but the world.

Nabakalebara is the most significant ritual in the Jagannath cult since it infuses life force. “Naba” means new and “kalebara” means body or cover in Sanskrit.

The deities are known as “Daru Brahma”, meaning Brahma (divine life force) in the form of wood. Hence, they are prone to decay and require a changeover to new bodies. Nabakalebara is the ritual of bringing about this metamorphosis. It signifies the Hindu belief that when the body gets old, the soul (Brahma) relinquishes it to accept a new one.

Nabakalebara takes place only during the Adhikamasa (intercalary month) of Ashadha, when two lunar months of Ashadha fall in one year, as per the Hindu almanac. Such a rare occasion usually occurs once in 12 years, but the gap may range from eight to 19 years. In the 20th century, Nabakalebara was celebrated in 1912, 1931, 1950, 1969, 1977 and 1996.

Banayagnya Yatra

Nabakalebara is preceded by the Banayagnya Yatra, which begins on Chaitra Shukla Dashami (March 29 this year), with 50 temple servitors beginning their journey in search of four suitable trees from which the deities will be carved. After seeking permission from the King of Puri, they go to Goddess Mangala’s temple at Kakatpur, a village 50 kilometres away, to seek Her blessings, whereafter She reveals the exact locations of the suitable trees.

No ordinary tree can be felled for this purpose. The daru (wood) for Jagannath has to be obtained from a neem tree that must be 7-12 cubit high and dark-coloured and has marks of a shankha (conch), chakra (disc), gada (mace) and padma (lotus). It must have a straight trunk and four clear branches. It should have neither creepers nor bird nests on it; it should not have been hit by lightning. It should be surrounded by trees like varuna, sahada and bilva. There should be an anthill and snake-holes at the foot of the tree. It must have grown near a river or pond or a crossing of three pathways. It is ideal if it is surrounded by mountains on three sides. It is good if there is a cremation ground or a temple of Siva or a hermitage nearby.

Different requisites have to be strictly followed for the demarcation of trees for carving the other three deities as well. The trees are spotted, worshipped and then felled and pulled by wooden carts to the Jagannath Temple. They are bathed on Snana Poornima simultaneously with the old deities, following which the temple is closed to the public.

Fifty maharanas (carpenters) carve the darus within 21 days, after which the new idols are perambulated around the temple. Then, the new and the old idols are placed facing each other, and the Brahmapadartha is transferred from the chests of the old idols to that of the new ones. This is done secretly in the dead of night by three of the oldest servitors with blindfolded eyes and tied hands, since no one is allowed to see or touch the Brahmapadartha. It is believed that anyone who touches or sees it is bound to die; so a blackout is ordered in the entire Puri town that night.

Considered dead, the old deities along with all peripheral deities used in the chariots during rath yatra are taken to Koilibaikuntha and buried. The Daitapati servitors who treat Lord Jagannath as the head of their families then observe all the funeral obsequies for 10 days and then bathe and offer a feast on the 12th day.

The new deities are then covered with Saptavarana, that is, seven substances—sandalwood paste, musk, resin, silk, etc.,—and painted by the chitrakaras (painters) using indigenous colours.

However, they do not paint the pupils of the deities. That is finally done by Brahmins during Netrotsava, the final life-infusing ritual, which is followed by Nabayauvana Darshan to the pilgrims. The next day, the deities are taken out for the famous rath yatra. Though the Nabakalebara rituals are yet to start, the process for the construction of the three chariots for the forthcoming rath yatra has already commenced with the rituals performed on the eve of Basanta Panchami on January 24.

Apart from taking steps to complete the painting of the main temple and the temples of the other deities in the temple complex, the Shri Jagannath Temple Administration has started the process for the procurement of the rare, expensive items required for the Nabakalebara rituals. About 1.1 kilograms of kasturi (musk), 10 quintals of sandalwood, 14 quintals each of jhuna (frankincense resin) and basunga silk cloth, huge quantities of timber, brass containers, earthen pots, sesame oil, ghee, coir and hundreds of other items have to be procured.

Administrative measures

As Nabakalebara is expected to attract millions of devotees from different corners of the world, the Odisha government is trying its best to make the mammoth event a grand success. According to preliminary estimates, it will spend around Rs.1,000 crore for infrastructure development in Puri and adjoining areas.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has directed the government departments concerned to complete pending projects in Puri before Nabakalebara. He has also been persuading various Central government departments to complete the pending projects in the region before the festival.

The district administration has been asked to improve the sewerage system in Puri and earmark places where makeshift toilets can be constructed. Improvement of both rail and road connectivity between Bhubaneswar and Puri is given high priority. The Chief Minister has sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the augmentation of railway infrastructure.

The infrastructure development committee set up for the festival, which is headed by former Minister and Puri legislator Maheswar Mohanty, has been conducting regular meetings to review the progress of the work. Stress is also laid on expediting the four-laning of the Puri-Bhubaneswar National Highway ahead of the festival. The construction of roads connecting the railway station and the bus stand has been speeded up. The district administration has been asked to sort out all issues relating to the acquisition of land for infrastructure development.

The authorities are planning to upgrade the Puri district headquarters hospital and other health centres in and around the town before Nabakalebara. A few electric substations are being set up to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the town during the festival.

Officials in charge of promoting tourism in the State are hopeful that this year’s Nabakalebara will give a big boost to the sector. They are leaving no stone unturned to woo tourists by showcasing the rich cultural heritage of Odisha. The State government’s Departments of Tourism and Culture are prioritising Nabakalebara not just in Odisha but also at various national and international fora. The festival was highlighted by a high-level delegation from Odisha Tourism at The New York Times Travel Show held in New York recently.

The renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik, who has been made the brand ambassador of Odisha Tourism, created an impressive sand sculpture of Lord Jagannath and some heritage monuments at the travel show in which the Odisha pavilion drew an enthusiastic crowd.

The Departments of Tourism and Culture and other agencies involved are also busy developing the tourism sector by taking all possible measures for the timely completion of various projects at many other tourist destinations across Odisha to attract more tourists in the Nabakalebara year. Almost all the tourist destinations in and around the temple city of Bhubaneswar are being given a facelift as are other locations such as the Buddhist heritage sites at Ratnagiri, Udayagiri and Lalitgiri, which form the Diamond Triangle of Odisha. Impressive improvement in road, rail and air connectivity in recent years has helped Odisha augment its tourism potential.

The Tourism Department has prepared a blueprint to draw the attention of people across the globe. A Nabakalebara Cell has been set up at the newly constructed office of the Tourism Department in Puri. A documentary on Nabakalebara is also being made.

All hotel rooms in Puri have been booked for the festival period and the government is trying its best to make adequate alternative arrangements to cater to the requirements of devotees and tourists. If people coming to witness Nabakalebara return happy, it will give a huge impetus to tourism in Odisha.

Tribals unite against liquor and dowry

PRAFULLA DAS

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An awareness drive against trading of liquor has been undertaken.FILE PHOTO

These factors were pushing the Dongria Kondhs into debt trap

: After their resolute opposition to bauxite mining that caught the world’s attention, the Dongria Kondh tribals living in the Niyamgiri hill range spread over Kalahandi and Rayagada districts of Odisha, have embarked upon another round of struggle to make their villages free of liquor and dowry.

Since these were two major factors affecting their lives and pushing them into a debt trap, the tribals living in the hill range have joined hands to fight the two social evils.

The community leaders, who are overseeing the self-conceptualised campaign, are keeping an eye on tribals returning home after consuming liquor at far off places.

First environmental referendum

The drive is being spearheaded by the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, which was instrumental in uniting the primitive Dongria Kondh tribals to oppose bauxite mining in Niyamgiri in the Gram Sabhas — dubbed as the country’s first environmental referendum.

The leaders and activists of the Samiti have been visiting 112 villages in Niyamgiri area requesting people not to consume either country-made or Indian made foreign liquor as it affects them financially and destroys peace in their families.

According to Lingaraj Azad, veteran tribal activist and advisor of the Samiti, they have largely succeeded in preventing trading of IMFL as well as manufacturing and trading of country liquor in remote hilltop villages.

However, there has been no restriction on consumption of Salap and Khajuri Tadi, the traditional brew that the locals collect by placing clay pots atop trees. However, trading in such brew too has been banned, with the people agreeing to the request of the Samiti activists.

The Samiti, according to Mr. Azad, has taken up the awareness drive against liquor in all sincerity, since the tribals were being won over by political parties during elections as well as by those trying to weaken their agitation against bauxite mining in Niyamgiri.

Bride money is another menace that the Samiti is fighting by making girls aware of its impact on the groom’s family. As per the practice, the brides in the region demand a ‘bride price’ for getting married. Over the years, the token bride price has become a burden as the groom’s family has to cough up about Rs. 30,000, if poor, and around Rs. 1,00,000, if rich — as the price of the wedding feast.

Since the amount is very high considering the average annual income of the tribals, the Samiti is trying to convince the villagers to organise mass wedding ceremonies to prevent unnecessary expenditures, said Azad.

ODISHA

Strengthening base

Prafulla Das

AS the Sangh Parivar works to strengthen its base in Odisha with an eye on the 2019 elections, a sense of apprehension continues to oppress the minority community across the State.

Six years after Kandhamal district witnessed the worst ever anti-Christian violence, more than 5,000 Christian people who had left Kandhamal in August 2008 are yet to return to their homes. The violence had followed the murder of the VHP leader Swami Lakshmanananda, allegedly by Maoists. Church activities have slowed down drastically after two rounds of anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal in 2007 and 2008. The Sangh Parivar is now working in an organised way to counter the churches in the tribal-dominated regions.

Many of the BJP’s national leaders have visited the State in the past few months. The Parivar seems to be adopting the tactics that had benefited the BJP in rural Bihar and Chhattisgarh. BJP leaders have identified 35 Assembly seats that are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes and another 15 Assembly seats that have more than 25 per cent tribal voters.

Now with a BJP government at the Centre, an elated Parivar has decided to increase the number of Ekal Vidyalayas, one-teacher schools, by ten times in the tribal areas. Ekal Vidyalayas, funded by the Friends of Tribals Society, are being strengthened with the appointment of one supervisor for 10 such schools, to impart non-formal education to tribal children not attending regular schools. Those managing the affairs of the Parivar are happy that in Kandhamal and Boudh districts, the majority of Sanskrit teachers working in the schools belong to the tribal Kondh community and were educated in the two Ashram schools that were run by the late Lakshmanananda.

Besides, the Parivar is also planning to unite and strengthen the Saraswati Shishu Mandir schools across the State. With the Shishu Mandirs emerging as an alternative to the poorly managed government schools, many dissident Shishu Mandir schools have come up in all parts of the State in recent years. The Odisha BJP organising secretary, who is on deputation from the RSS, is likely to take charge of the Shishu Mandir schools before the next elections.

In fact, as many as 40 Sangh Parivar outfits are covertly trying their best to polarise Odisha on communal lines. Using Odisha as a Hindutva laboratory, the Parivar had succeeded in polarising the State after the Kandhamal riots in 2008, but the BJP did not separate itself from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) immediately after that. As a result, the party failed to get votes when the BJD broke the alliance a few days before the 2009 elections.

The anger that Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik had generated in the minds of BJP leaders in 2009 has not died down. Hence, Parivar workers in the rural areas are all charged up following Narendra Modi’s assumption of office as Prime Minister. In a State where Muslims and Christians hardly have a presence, they try to make the BJP’s hands stronger by wooing Dalits and taking up issues relating to the Jagannath temple in Puri.

When there was a rift between the administration and the Shankaracharya of Puri with regard to the rituals surrounding the Rath Yatra in the recent past, the Parivar organisations as well as BJP leaders sided with the Shankaracharya. An organisation has now started working in Puri in the name of cleanliness and for the closure of liquor and meat shops in the temple town.

No other party has so many outfits working with different social groups in Odisha. The Sangh Parivar and the BJP, meanwhile, carry on with their determined efforts to make their organisation broad-based by inducting people from Other Backward Classes and Dalit and tribal groups.

Probe into Kandhamal riots nowhere near completion

Probe into Kandhamal riots nowhere near completion
PRAFULLA DAS

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Truth about the anti-Christian riots in Odisha’s Kandhamal district in 2008 may not come to light even after the arrest of top Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda as the Commission of Inquiry probing it is likely to complete the inquiry only after one and a half years from now.

Though the police have named Panda as the main accused in the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati that triggered riots and the case may take a few years to be disposed of in the court, the Commission is still in the process of examining the witnesses. The final report of the Commission is likely to bring out the truth about the circumstances leading to the murder and the subsequent riots that claimed at least 30-odd lives and burning down of hundreds of houses.

The one-man probe panel, being headed by retired Orissa High Court judge Justice A.S. Naidu, is taking more time primarily due to lack of cooperation from the Odisha government as well as witnesses who had filed affidavits before it, official sources told The Hindu on Saturday.

In fact, the Commission, which was set up in September 2008 under Justice Sarat Chandra Mohapatra, had not received a single affidavit initially even after it published two advertisements seeking information about the murder and the riots.

The Commission is probing the sequence of events and circumstances leading to the murder of Saraswati at his Jalespata ashram in Kandhamal between 7 50 p.m. and 8 15 p.m. on August 23, 2008.

The panel is also probing the role of individuals in precipitating the murder and the subsequent riots, and also the role of organisations, groups and agencies precipitating the communal violence and measures taken by the State government in anticipation of the riots.

It had started receiving affidavits only after it requested all District Collectors in the State to circulate the notice about the probe that requiring people to file affidavits.

Though the VHP leader was allegedly shot dead by Maoists on August 23 evening, riots broke out in different parts of Kandhamal after Mr. Saraswati’s funeral procession was taken out from Jalespata ashram to Chakapada ashram located at the other end of the district by the Sangh Parivar on August 25.

The parivar alleged that members of the Christian community were behind the murder of Mr. Saraswati.

The Commission, which received 750 affidavits from both government and private persons, has so far examined 65 government officials, including top police and administration staff, and as many as 170 private witnesses, including BJP leader and Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram.

Many private witnesses were yet to be examined and more government officials may be examined if their names figured during the examination of any witness in the coming days, sources said. The Commission had submitted an interim report to the State government in June 2009 when Justice Mohapatra was heading it.

Justice Mohapatra passed away in May 2012 after which Justice Naidu had taken charge.

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Commission still examining the witnesses

Lack of government cooperation alleged

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Conjurer of Odisha

Surpassing its own expectations, the Biju Janata Dal led by Naveen Patnaik romps home with 117 of the 147 Assembly seats. By PRAFULLA DAS in Bhubaneswar

THE scale of the victory of the Biju Janata Dal led by Naveen Patnaik in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections held simultaneously in the State has taken many by surprise. The incumbent Chief Minister was seeking a fourth consecutive term in the face of anti-incumbency and rebel factors.

The BJD won 20 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats and 117 of the 147 Assembly seats. In the 2009 elections, the party won 14 Lok Sabha seats and 103 Assembly seats. Significantly, its vote share in the Lok Sabha elections increased from 37.24 per cent in 2009 to 44.1 per cent this time and the vote share in the Assembly elections from 38.86 per cent to 43.4 per cent. Patnaik has taken the oath as Chief Minister for the fourth consecutive term, thereby creating a record. He is the first leader to become Chief Minister of Odisha for four times, and in a row.

Given the fact that both the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were way behind the BJD in terms of strength, popularity and leadership, nobody had doubts about its victory. But even BJD leaders admit in private that they too were surprised by the outcome.

Almost all the winners in the BJD credit Patnaik with leading the party to an emphatic victory. Many of the leaders who were expecting to win by a few thousand votes have won by margins of 20,000 votes and more.

The BJD president’s magic touch was evident in the earlier elections too. In 2009, his close aide in the party, Pyarimohan Mohapatra, accurately predicted that the party would win 103 Assembly seats. This time also, Patnaik’s close aide and party vice-president Kalpataru Das claimed that the party’s Assembly seats could go up to 120. He was not way off the mark.

What kept Patnaik’s party ahead of both the Congress and the BJP was his continuous effort to build a sense of regional identity among Odias living in and outside the State. It is another matter that Patnaik himself cannot read, write or speak Odia. The few instances he has made speeches in Odia in public have been with the help of texts transliterated into English.

In the absence of other strong regional parties, Patnaik was also successful in projecting himself and his party as the champions of the cause of the State, notwithstanding the fact that 14 years of his rule had not brought about any significant change in Odisha’s status as the country’s most backward State.

If Narendra Modi promised good days ahead and succeeded in making the BJP emerge victorious at the national level, Patnaik, since he assumed power in the State for the first time in March 2000, has been making promises of building a prosperous Odisha that his father, Biju Patnaik, had dreamt of. The people of Odisha reposed their faith in him and were expecting that Biju babu’s dreams would be fulfilled by his worthy son some day.

The anti-Centre stand adopted by Patnaik since the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance assumed power in New Delhi in 2004 also worked in Patnaik’s favour. Even though the Union government conceded various demands of the State government and announced many pro-poor schemes, Patnaik continued to allege that the Centre was adopting a step-motherly attitude towards Odisha.

Patnaik’s government implemented Central schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the National Rural Health Mission and the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and he took the entire credit for their success. He pitched in with his resources from the exchequer to provide rice at Re.1 a kg to woo the voters.

Furthermore, Patnaik succeeded in strengthening the party’s social base with a lot of other measures. A large number of below poverty line (BPL) families remained indebted to the BJD as Patnaik launched a series of pro-poor schemes that covered the entire lifespan of an individual. More than 57 per cent of the population live below the poverty line and the percentage of poor is higher among Dalits and tribal people.

Gender bender

After his party’s victory, Patnaik thanked women, who had voted for his party in large numbers despite an increase in the number of rape and other crimes against women.

Ensuring 50 per cent reservation for women in all the 100-odd urban local bodies across the State last year made him popular among women voters. Besides, there are thousands of women’s self-help groups.

Even as his government tried its best to facilitate the Vedanta Aluminium’s refinery project in Lanjigarh and created a situation conducive for the eviction of hundreds of tribal people to make space for bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills which is considered sacred by the Dongria Kondh tribals, Patnaik in February announced a Rs.12 crore package for the protection, conservation and development of 2,000 places of worship of tribal people. They constitute 22 per cent of the State’s population.

It is common knowledge that hundreds of thousands of tribal people who had been displaced to make way for industries are still awaiting rehabilitation.

Patnaik also kept the hopes of the poor alive by repeatedly demanding from the Central government a special category status for Odisha. With an eye to the elections, his party held a rally in New Delhi last year to highlight the demand, much like the one organised by former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

What helped Patnaik the most was a faction-ridden Congress. The main opposition party in the State was a divided house before the elections. The infighting cost it dear and its vote share in the Assembly elections dropped from 29.10 per cent in 2009 to 25.7 per cent in 2014. It won 16 Assembly seats as against its tally of 27 in 2009 and won no Lok Sabha seat (six seats in 2009).

The BJP, too, lacked organisational strength in the State. However, backed by the Sangh Parivar organisations that became active after Modi was named the BJP’s prime ministerial nominee, the saffron party became successful in increasing its vote share, from 15.05 per cent in 2009 to 18 per cent in 2014. It won a Lok Sabha seat (nil in 2009) and 10 Assembly seats (six in 2009).

In the Chief Minister’s chair for the fourth time, Patnaik is gearing up to fulfil many of the promises that he had not been able to keep in the past even as opposition parties are busy putting their houses in order.

Late swing?

Manas Rath/PTIPeople waiting to listen to Narendra Modi at an election rally in Sambalpur, Odisha, on March 14.

INFOGRAPHICS

Odisha

NOBODY had expected a drastic change on the political scene in Odisha until the Sangh Parivar succeeded in its attempts to project Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s prime ministerial candidate, with the support of a focussed publicity campaign.

A wave of support for Modi started sweeping many regions of the State just a few days before polling, thereby changing political equations and making things difficult for Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik.

As support for Modi started swelling, partly because of a strong anti-incumbency factor, psephologists too changed their predictions, projecting figures that were discouraging for the BJD.

Leaders of the BJD were surprised to witness the change in the voters’ mood. Until the “Modi wave” hit the State, the BJD top brass was confident of victory as the Congress, the main opposition party since 2000, had become a divided house. But strong triangular contests in almost all Parliamentary and Assembly seats in the State left everyone surprised.

In fact, until the ticket was allotted, neither the Congress nor the BJP could imagine that there was so much anger among the people against the ruling party and many of its sitting legislators. The BJD had appeared to have emerged stronger by inducting into its fold many prominent leaders from parties such as the Congress, the BJP, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) just days before the polls. Naveen Patnaik had succeeded in sending a strong signal to the opposition that he had virtually won the election even before it had been actually fought.

The Lok Sabha elections were influenced by the “Modi wave” and also by the fact that the BJD did not have any clear idea about its role in national politics, in order to keep its vote base intact. The BJD faced serious difficulties even in constituencies where its nominees had won with huge margins in the 2009 election.

When it came to the Assembly elections, the BJD had to handle multiple problems. Even as the nominees of a faction-ridden Congress failed to emerge as major challengers, dissidence within the BJD local units in many places made many of its supporters vote either for the Congress or for the BJP.

Further, many traditional supporters and sympathisers of Naveen Patnaik preferred to vote for the BJP because of Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections, without even considering the stature of the BJP candidates in many constituencies. This split among its voters affected the BJD’s prospects not only in the Lok Sabha but also in the Assembly elections. Though the people of Odisha had little knowledge about the Gujarat model of development, they were apparently swayed by the BJP’s “good days are ahead” slogan. Naveen Patnaik’s development plank, based on the freebies that he had announced for different sections of the voters, had little impact, particularly in the Lok Sabha elections.

The minority vote is also likely to influence the outcome in the two Lok Sabha constituencies of Sundargarh and Kandhamal, where members of the Christian community might have cast their votes either for the Congress or for the BJD. The Muslim votes might also have gone to the Congress or the BJD in places such as Cuttack, Bhadrak, Kendrapara and Bhubaneswar. However, since these communities constitute less than 5 per cent of the voters in the State, they are unlikely to have a big impact on the outcome.

As the BJD’s popularity was waning and the Congress had failed to strengthen itself, the BJP, which was organisationally weak since Patnaik parted ways with it before the 2009 election, emerged as a major force. Its revival was aided by the planned approach adopted by the Sangh Parivar and scores of its allies, including Baba Ramdev’s yoga outfits.

Corruption was not a major election issue in Odisha this time. This was mainly because Naveen Patnaik had largely remained silent over the corruption issue since his own government was involved in a series of scams such as the multi-crore mining scam, the chit fund scam, the MGNREGS scam and the dal scam.

In such a situation, the BJP managed to make the maximum gains as the Congress, which had earned a bad name for itself at the national level because of the various scams, failed to take on the BJD as a united force. Though the Congress had a good chance of returning to power in the State this time, it failed to project itself as a viable, united alternative to the BJD with a clear leadership.

In fact, the Congress has never fought an election as a united party since it was voted out in the 2000 Assembly elections. Leaders heading the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) were removed from their posts months before the general elections in 2004, 2009 and 2014, leaving the party practically leaderless.

Such was the level of infighting in the Odisha Congress unit that virtually no senior leader except Union Minister Srikant Jena, who later headed the party’s campaign committee in the State, was seen with OPCC president Jayadev Jena. Barring the election rallies that were addressed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, the Jenas failed to organise public meetings in support of their party nominees in any part of the State.

Speculation is now rife that the BJD may not find it easy to form the government on its own in the State for the fourth consecutive term. This is because both the Congress and the BJP are likely to substantially increase their strength in the 147-member Assembly. The BJD had won 103 seats, the Congress 27 and the BJP six in the 2009 polls.

The general opinion is that Naveen Patnaik may retain power because of the support his government had extended to women’s self-help groups across the State and the sops it had given to farmers, youth and families living below the poverty line. But it is also possible that the outcome may leave pollsters eating their own words.

Prafulla Das

Will BJP spring a surprise in Odisha?

PRAFULLA DAS

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Till recently, the contest was seen as one between BJD and Congress

Even though the date of counting is almost four weeks away and uncertainty prevails over outcome of the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls held in Odisha, the issue is now being discussed at almost every place across the State primarily because the elections were held simultaneously.

The issue is being discussed from various angles since many people had resorted to split ticket voting and political pundits and politicians are finding it hard to arrive at a conclusion.

Interaction with a large number of voters revealed that they had voted for one party to choose their Lok Sabha Member but for a different party to elect their legislator for the Assembly.

In fact, the situation was not so confusing till a few weeks before the polls. The general perception then was that the main contest will be between the ruling Biju Janata Dal and main opposition Congress in almost every Lok Sabha and Assembly constituency. Even opinion polls had made forecast on those lines.

But the scenario has apparently changed when BJP’s Prime Ministerial nominee Narendra Modi visited the State thrice to address election rallies. Soon the saffron party, which had not won even a single Lok Sabha seat and only six Assembly seats in the 2009 election, was viewed as a major contender in a majority of Lok Sabha constituencies and many Assembly segments in different regions of the State.

The sudden emergence of the BJP as a major contender for as many as four Lok Sabha seats in western, and many seats in northern and coastal Odisha, forced media houses to conduct a fresh round of opinion poll. The State has 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats.

The high voter turnout in both phases of polling in the State had also added to the speculation over the poll outcome. The State recorded a turnout of 74.3 per cent in this election, against 65.3 per cent in 2009, when elections for Lok Sabha and Assembly were also held simultaneously.

The ruling party leaders were hopeful that their party will perform well in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, with the expectation that the anti-BJD votes would be divided among the Congress, the BJP, independents and other parties, while the BJP leaders were hoping for a miracle performance.

As regards the Congress, though many party leaders were not sure of winning as many Lok Sabha seats as they had did in 2009, they were hopeful of winning more Assembly seats than last year. The party had won six Lok Sabha and 27 Assembly seats in 2009.

While it is being observed that BJP is likely to perform better than Congress with regard to the Lok Sabha poll, the workers of the faction-ridden Congress are lamenting that they could have done much better in the Assembly poll had their party been able to take advantage of the anti-incumbency factor that existed against the ruling BJD.