Estranged partners sharpen knives as endgame approaches

Bhubaneswar: Campaigning has reached its business end in Odisha and both BJP and BJD have taken to heightened political posturing to win the battle of perception and get maximum seats in the final phase of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections on Monday. Six parliamentary and 41 assembly seats will vote in the last round.
The blow hot, blow cold relations between the estranged allies — which shared power from 2000 to 2009 — seem to have taken a definite turn for the worse ahead of the final phase, but feverish speculation on the all-important question of a post-poll alliance continues unabated.
Instead of slowing down, both BJD and BJP’s campaigns for the last phase have become sharper and more strident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a rally on Tuesday, said he had refrained from criticising chief minister Naveen Patnaik by name to afford him an ‘honourable exit’, but was sure now that people would throw him out in anger. Perhaps alluding to the perception that BJP is hoping to offset losses in the heartland states by mopping up seats in Odisha and West Bengal, Modi linked the two eastern neighbours at the same rally and said the political violence in the Naveen-led state was similar to what was happening in West Bengal.
The barbs didn’t go unanswered. Naveen — who has always said he would maintain equal distance from BJP and Congress but who also recently reiterated that he was open to a post-poll tie-up with any party that would serve the interests of Odisha — returned the favour a day later by ‘inviting’ Modi to his swearing-in ceremony after May 23. He said the first three phases of the polls had ensured that BJD would come back to power and he would be chief minister for a record fifth term.
The sparring didn’t end there. The saffron party’s Odisha face, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, on Thursday said, “Modi will surely come to the swearing-in of a BJP government in the state. As outgoing chief minister, Naveen will definitely be invited.”
Fifteen Lok Sabha and 105 assembly seats in the state have already voted. Election to one assembly seat — Patkura — will be held on May 19 because BJD’s contestant for it, Bed Prakash Agarwalla, died recently. Even at the height of the ‘Modi wave’ in 2014, BJP had won only one of the 21 Lok Sabha seats and 10 of the 147 assembly seats in Odisha. The BJD had won 20 Lok Sabha seats and 117 assembly seats.
The sharp show of hostility between BJP and BJD has, however, failed to stop murmurs of a post-poll alliance between the two parties in the event of a hung Parliament. The speculation of an ‘understanding’ has gained momentum after Union minister and Republican Party of India president Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday made a public appeal to Naveen to return to the NDA. Naveen — Union steel and mines minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA I government — has backed BJP on most of its contentious initiatives such as GST, demonetisation and the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
Political analysts feel the show of bravado by Modi and Naveen is just that, a show that will enthuse cadres and ensure votes. “Whatever is happening in the state is a display of political rhetoric; a strong and conscious attempt to win votes. Neither party can afford to be lax in the last phase as every vote counts in this battle, one of the fiercest the state has seen,” said Jayant Mohapatra, a retired professor of political science.
For the time, both parties are focusing their attacks on each other, keeping all talk of alliances firmly in suspended animation. BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra said the writing on the wall was clear and his party was headed for a massive victory in Odisha. “As regards the government at the Centre, our party president will take a decision at the appropriate time,” he said.
Both parties are confident of a win. “The BJP will form governments both at the Centre and in the state. By the end of the third phase, BJP has already achieved a majority here,” said BJP’s state general secretary and Odisha in-charge Arun Singh. The BJD’s Prasanna Acharya said, “I doubt if Modi will return as PM. Even if he doesn’t, he should attend Naveen’s swearing-in.”