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Modi’s tightrope walk in Odisha — slam state govt, but not Naveen Patnaik

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With its allies driving a hard bargain and opposition parties huddling together to forge a front, BJP doesn’t want to antagonise relatively less unfriendly forces.

New Delhi: Looking to criticise the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in Odisha but refraining from personally attacking Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did some tightrope walking Monday.

In a 35-minute-long speech at a political rally in Odisha’s Khurda, the PM slammed Patnaik’s government but did not mention him directly even once — politically significant in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when all parties are scrambling to declare friends and foes.

Sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who did not wish to be identified, say at a time when its allies have been driving a hard bargain and when opposition parties are huddling together to forge a front against it, the party does not want to completely antagonise the relatively less unfriendly forces.

The PM’s visit to the state came a day after Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrashekar Rao met Patnaik in Bhubaneswar as part of his efforts to forge a non-Congress, non-BJP front.

In Odisha, Assembly elections are due along with the Lok Sabha polls and the BJP is trying to model itself as the principal opposition party. The party also aims at compensating for its potential losses in heartland states in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with gains in new regions, including Odisha which sends 21 seats to the Lok Sabha. Of these, the BJP won just one in the 2014 general election, while the BJD managed as many as 20.

In both his speeches, therefore, the PM made it a point to underscore the importance of Odisha for his party and government.

“From infrastructure and people’s development in the state, multiple steps are being taken by the Centre. This work will continue unabated. We want Odisha to emerge as a vital engine of development of new India,” he said in his first speech.


Also read: Naveen Patnaik’s silence speaks the loudest in opposition’s boisterous attempts at unity


The tightrope walk

A day later, Modi took to the stage on Patnaik’s turf, criticised the state government but was careful to not drag the CM’s name directly.

“States even weaker than Odisha have moved ahead. Why is that so? Why is Odisha not moving? From chit fund to PC (percentage commission) culture, the demon of corruption has become so powerful here. Who is it who feeds this demon?” Modi asked.

“Today people of Odisha are asking why Odisha has not accepted Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana,” he said, indicating the state government was reluctant to do so.

However, in his speech, which was garnished with chants of Jai Jagannath, Modi spoke of the central government’s development initiatives in the state and recounted various welfare schemes, but conspicuous was the absence of Patnaik’s name. Contrast this with just three months ago when Modi had directly taken on the CM in public meetings in Talcher and Jharsuguda the state.

“Everyone is aware of the importance of Ayushman Bharat scheme, but Naveenbabu does not understand. Odisha government should come forward and join the programme. Once again, I publicly urge Naveenbabu to link people of the state with Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme,” he had said.

“I had told Naveenji about the importance of swachhata and I once again request him to give cleanliness due importance,” Modi had further said.

On Monday, however, the PM was more muted and chose to attack the state government overall. In fact, earlier in the day, Modi and Patnaik even shared the stage at IIT Bhubaneswar while releasing a postage stamp and a commemorative coin on the bicentenary of the 1817 Paika Rebellion. In his speech at this official event, Modi did not criticise the BJD regime and stuck to talking about his own government’s commitment to “all-round development of Odisha”.


Also read: BJP promises loan waivers to farmers if it comes to power in Odisha


The BJD-BJP equation

The BJD-BJP have shared a tricky relationship. Both parties were in an alliance for around 11 years before the 2009 Lok Sabha polls when a breakdown in seat-sharing talks between them led to the alliance collapsing.

Patnaik, however, has never attended any Congress-led meeting to showcase opposition unity and has remained equidistant from both parties. Earlier this year, the BJD walked out of Parliament before the no-trust vote against the Modi government — seen as tacit support to the government.

Also, while Patnaik’s party supported the opposition’s candidate, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, in the vice-presidential election, it backed NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind during the presidential election last year.

Thus, even while not siding with the BJP, the BJD is among its less hostile rival parties.

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1 COMMENT

  1. It would have been easier to expand the ruling party’s geographical spread to non conventional areas if it had a solid inventory of successes in Delhi and the states to showcase.

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