Bhubaneswar: Is Congress affected by the famous Kalidasa syndrome where the greate poet before attending enlightenment used to cut the branches of a tree on which he was seated? This practice is now seen when the Congress high command suspended two senior leaders from the coastal region, considered most important in the political circle.
The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) under leadership of Sarat Pattnayak suspended Cuttack-Barabati MLA Mohammad Moquim and ex-MLA Chiranjeeb Biswal. The Congress in most politically sensitive districts of Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur is known by the name of Shri Moquim and Shri Biswal.
However, the party decided to place these two leaders under suspension notwithstanding its backlash. The suspended duo were established organizers who have good ground in these districts. Moquim won the crucial Barabati-Cuttack assembly segment by defeating the BJD candidate Debasish Samantray by a margin of 3827 votes. He secured 38 per cent of votes amid a stiff competition from the BJD. He was the lone winner for Congress from Cuttack district.
Similarly, Shri Biswal, though lost the polls in 2019, has succeeded in defeating the BJD candidate in the Urban and Rural Polls. He was also instrumental in the Tirtol by-poll where the Congress candidate secured maximum votes. The Congress candidates in all the by-polls except Tirtol had lost deposits. Thanks to Shri Biswal who could save the Congress votes if not won the by-poll.
Shri Biswal being the son of former deputy chief minister Basant Biswal, also earns a good name in Jagatsinghpur district and people in the district know him as the Congress. Still, he was placed under suspension for the faults which are committed by many leaders.
In a meeting in May this year, both Shri Moquim and Shri Biswal had criticized the Congress state leadership while speaking on the sorry state of affairs in the party. They highlighted how the Congress leaders kept on fighting among themselves even as the party remained out of power for about two-and-half a decade. Biswal said that though the party had only 9 MLAs in the House of 147 members, there were 20 chief ministerial aspirants. Biswal’s statement was seen as a fact and exposed the lack of discipline in the oldest party in the country.
However, the duo had been blamed for the poor performance of the Congress candidate in the Jharsuguda by-poll where the party lost its deposits. The state leadership, however, said that the party’s performance was poor due to remarks made by Moquim and Biswal. Had it been the case, what could be the reason behind the Congress candidate’s poor show in Padampur by-poll? The party leadership might not get sufficient reasons as the entire election at Padampur was managed by OPCC president Sarat Pattnayak himself.
While reacting over the suspension of the two leaders, Pattnayak said that all should abide by the decisions of the AICC. He also said that the suspension will not have any impact on the party’s electoral prospect. Shri Pattnayak had earlier claimed that the Congress will get 90 seats from just 9 MLAs in 2019 under his leadership even though the party candidates lost in all the by-polls. Now after the suspension of one MLA and the party’s tally coming down to 8 from 9 in the Assembly, Shri Pattnayak said: “Now our target will not decline to 80 but to increase to 100.”
Therefore, Shri Pattnayak sees the party will perform better after suspension of the two leaders. However, there seems to be no reason behind his claim. Interestingly, Shri Pattnayak cited instances of how the BJP could get absolute majority in Parliament when it had only two members during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee era. In politics, two plus two is not always four, but may be 22. Therefore, Shri Pattnayak’s claim appeared to be just a wishful thinking and not a reality. This is because Congress’ vote percentage has been declining in every election since 2000. The party now holds only 13 percent votes from 38 percent votes in 2000.
Under such a precarious condition of the party, can anyone (other than Shri Pattnayak) imagine Congress forming a government after the 2024 elections? Seeing dreams is good for a person or a party, but the dream having no basis may not be acceptable to anyone. A cowboy may dream of marrying Madhuri Dixit, but one has to become a Dr Nene to marry the Bollywood sensation. Therefore, the party first needs to make it acceptable to the people of the state before dreaming of forming the government.
The opposition BJP, which has meanwhile raised its vote share to about 38% seems not to be so confident to trounce Naveen Patnaik. The saffron party has sufficient resources to fight the next elections, still there is doubt whether BJP can form government after 2024 elections.
Now, the time has come for the Congress to fight a united battle against the mighty BJD and the BJP. The hand party cannot win elections based on the wishes of a leader. It has to be seen the ground reality. The party passes through a severe crisis and it can come up to fighting level if its leaders fix one goal, one target that is BJD. The party must focus to improve its strength not to weaken its system while fighting within the party.