Interviewtimes 
Recently, the Opposition BJP tried something out of the box to shake the formidable BJD in Odisha. BJP’s legislators, in a novel yet politically expedient gesture staged a walkathon from the state assembly to Naveen Niwas, aiming to besiege the ruling government over the paddy procurement fiasco. The BJP was trying to muster political mileage out of the suicide attempt bid by one of its legislators over the shortcomings in paddy procurement. And, the party did it in a novel way to change the pitch and tonality of protest. In fact, this is how senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition Pradipta Nayak put it: “Sac loads of paddy are rotting at the Mandis for months in Odisha.
The BJP has been demanding immediate intervention of CM Naveen Patnaik to address the burning problem. As the CM doesn’t attend the Assembly session, we have come searching for our Chief Minister,” said Leader of Opposition Pradipta Nayak.
The BJP’s walkathon politics, however, failed to make any dent as the BJD leaders and supporters staged a parallel walk-in to the CM’s residence, thwarting the show of their counterparts in the Opposition. Influential BJD leader and the second in party organizational structure after the CM -Pranab Prakash Das said, “The Opposition wished to meet the Honourable CM and we led them”.
Somehow and possibly everywhere, the BJP seems to be short on both strategy and vision to counter the redoubtable Naveen Patnaik led government in Odisha. The Modi magic and the ‘politics of optics’ doesn’t click with the voters who have reaffirmed their mandate for the performance driven BJD in poll after poll. The BJD still buys the aphorism- ‘The less you talk, the more you connect’. The BJP’s anti-incumbency narrative, if any, has to be more aligned with this pithy statement.
Just notice how Naveen Patnaik has swept the rug under the BJP’s feet by sharpening focus on religion and culture in his brand of political wooing of the masses. As a counterweight to the BJP’s high decibel Ram Mandir movement, Naveen has been splurging money to revamp the iconic structures of Jagannath Temple, Puri and the Lingraj Temple in Bhubaneswar. Last month, he tabled a resolution in the state assembly seeking the support of the House for early completion of the ₹3200 crore Jagannath Heritage Corridor project. He called Lord Jagannath the symbol of Odia esteem and pride.
“The greatest identity of the Odia community is Lord Jagannath. Our history, culture, tradition, and belief system are all centered around the Almighty. Visiting the Jagannath Temple once in a lifetime and getting a glimpse of the Lord is the only prayer of millions of devotees. All devotees, who come to the Jagannath Temple in Puri to see the Lord, have a desire in their hearts to see deities in a calm, beautiful and spiritual environment. This plan is not only for the government or for the temple administration, but also the plan of 4.5 crore [45 million] Odias,” said the Chief Minister.
By being a huge votary of the Jagannath cult, Naveen has endeared himself more to the people of Odisha. The BJP faces a deepening existential crisis. Either it nurtures and projects a leader of Naveen’s caliber or strengthens considerably, its foot on the ground to get to the pulse of the people.
