Bhubaneswar: Never before, Odisha has witnessed such a large number of its leaders migrating to other states for campaigning in assembly elections. As Chhattisgarh goes to polls in two phases on November 7 and November 17, the All Indian Congress Committee (AICC) has deployed more than three dozen of Congress leaders from Odisha in the neighbouring state.
Odisha’s lone MP Saptagiri Ulaka is assigned the number two position in the party to look after the election campaigning for the 90 assembly seats while most of the leaders from border districts are asked to campaign in Chhattisgarh, which allegedly blockade flow of Mahanadi water to Odisha.
Odisha Congress leaders were deployed in 30 of the 90 assembly segments in Chhattisgarh which are bordering our state. Apart from MLAs and an MP, ex-MLAs, ex-Ministers, defeated MP and MLA candidates and local leaders of the bordering districts were also identified to campaign in Chhattisgarh.
OPCC President Sarat Patnaik, Congress Veteran Bhakta Charan Das have been roped in as Star Campaigner for Chhattisgarh Assembly elections.
The question here is natural whether these leaders will be helpful for the Congress which is facing the mighty BJP in the upcoming elections? The Congress leaders in Odisha are out of power for about two and half-a decade and still struggling to become number two party in the state. However, the political analysts believe that the Odisha Congress leaders could be beneficial as they have a long experience in fighting against the BJD and BJP. Though they failed to succeed in Odisha due to the Naveen Patnaik factor, they have the skills to motivate the people and bring votes for Congress.
An insider, however, said that the Congress leaders will certainly put up their all out efforts in Chhattisgarh as it will encourage the party rank and file in the state if they win the polls in the neighbouring state.
However, a Governing BJD leader ridiculed the Congress leaders by saying: “as the Odisha laborers used to migrate to other places like Surat, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, now the Congress leaders also migrate to other states as they have nothing to do in Odisha.”
Anyway, sources in the BJP also mentioned that some leaders from the saffron party would also go to Chhattisgarh for campaigning. As both the Congress and BJP are national parties, their leaders need to go to other states for campaign. The BJD, which is a regional party, has no option to participate in the elections in other states and their movement is confined within the state.
However, Congress leaders in Odisha were not very excited about getting an opportunity to campaign in Chhattisgarh. They feel that the AICC has been giving much more importance to Chhattisgarh where there are only 90 assembly seats and not to Odisha having 147 assembly segments. The AICC presidents, be it Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and even Mallikaarjun Kharge, none have paid any visit to Odisha after the 2019 elections. The party’s rank and file in Odisha is utterly frustrated over the AICC’s negligence towards Odisha. Not many people were recently appointed to the Congress Working Committee.
The Congress leaders also pointed out that the rival BJP and its central leadership has been focusing on Odisha while the AICC has no such efforts. BJP President J P Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, a series of Union Ministers are making frequent visits to Odisha while there is no such leader of repute from Congress who is visiting the state. The frequent visits of BJP leaders have come as a morale boost of their party workers while the Congress people suffer and demoralize.
The senior Congress leaders also opine that the party still has a wide acceptance among the pople of Odisha and the leadership is unable to take advantage of the situation. The people of Odisha by now have realized that there is no difference between the BJD and the BJP. If one votes for BJD in the Lok Sabha elections, it ultimately helps Narendra Modi and the BJP. Therefore, the Congress should take advantage of the nexus between Modi and Naveen, but the party has utterly failed, said a senior leader. He said the Congress people campaigning in Chhattisgarh may help Congress, but this will have no impact on the party’s electoral prospects in Odisha.
The ECI has issued notification for elections in Chhattisgarh in two phases from 7th November to 17th November 2023. The present Government is headed by Congress Veteran Bhupesh Bhagel, who has been popular for the pro-people programs. Congress sees future in Chhattisgarh and party leaders are trying hard to make it a grand success, said Santosh Singh Saluja, a veteran Lawmaker of INC.
