Two months before the Congress’s Telangana unit was preparing for a fierce electoral battle with the incumbent BRS government last year, it had shared a wedding card that mentioned “BRS loves BJP”. The move was part of the Congress’s game plan to expose the “secret ties” between the BRS and the BJP — a narrative that helped the party break the KCR-led government’s decade-long hold in the southern state. Taking a leaf out of the Telangana plan, the Odisha unit of the grand old party conducted a mock “marriage ceremony” of the ruling BJD and the BJP on January 25. It came amid the party’s efforts to build a narrative on the “BJD-BJP nexus” and the issue of “Odia pride”, while projecting the Congress as the only alternative ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, to be held simultaneously later this year. “The BJD and the BJP are in a live-in relationship for the past 23 years. In India, parents don’t like live-in relationships. So the Congress has formalised their (BJD and BJP) relationship by getting them married,” the newly-appointed AICC in-charge of Odisha, Ajoy Kumar, told reporters after the January 25 programme. Kumar, along with other senior leaders including Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) chief Sarat Pattanayak and former ministers, marched from the Congress Bhawan to the Master Canteen Square in Bhubaneswar to conduct the “wedding” that created ripples on social media. The leaders danced like baraatis as they distributed invitation cards, while a song composed to expose the alleged nexus blared in the background. While the groom was seen wearing a BJP mask, the bride’s face was covered with a BJD mask. The Congress workers were wearing masks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik and those of other prominent BJD and BJP leaders. Kumar, who has been raising the issue of a “BJD-BJP nexus” since the day he took charge of the Odisha party affairs, accused the BJD of supporting the BJP at the Centre over “anti-people” Bills like the Land Acquisition Bill, which was later withdrawn, demonetisation, GST, Citizenship Amendment legislation, besides extending support to the Rajya Sabha candidature of Ashwini Vaishnaw. In return, Kumar alleged, the BJP had remained silent on various state “scams” like “the mining and chit fund scams”, while central investigative agencies like the ED and the CBI never acted against the BJD. “The BJD is the brand ambassador and partner-in-life of the BJP, because the regional party has always voted in favour of the BJP in Parliament. They roam around holding hands in Delhi, while in Odisha, they act as if they are political opponents,” Kumar alleged. The Congress, which has been out of power in Odisha since 2000, is also trying to revive its “lost glory” by taking an aggressive stance against the BJD and the BJP in the run-up to the elections. The Congress, which ruled the state for over four decades, was pushed to a distant third in the 2019 Assembly polls, with its number of seats and vote percentages falling significantly. The party had won only in nine seats out of 147 seats in 2019, while its vote share nosedived to just 16%, compared to 16 seats and 26% vote share in 2014. It also had to forfeit deposits in six of the eight bypolls held in Odisha since 2019. Invoking Odia pride Among various strategies that the Congress leadership is trying to adopt in Odisha to strengthen the party’s base, is invoking Odia pride, accusing the BJD of being run by “outsiders” — a dig at IAS-turned-politician V K Pandian. Kumar, a former MP and a retired IPS officer, is often heard declaring that “Odisha is for the Odias, of the Odias and by the Odias”, as he tries to raise the morale of party cadres. Recently, he attacked the BJD over the absence of a picture of legendary leader and party ideologue Biju Patnaik in its posters. The party, now led by his son Naveen, was originally formed to carry forward Biju’s legacy. “It’s really sad the way former CM Biju Patnaik’s picture is nowhere seen in the posters put out by the BJD across the state. He is an Odia icon. He might be our political opponent, but we have high regard for him. If his photo is removed from the BJD’s poster… then where is Odia pride? Isn’t it an insult to Odisha?” Kumar asked. He also accuses the BJD government of being run by “outsiders”, and for giving government contracts to contractors from outside the state. Accusing the Congress of lacking “credibility”, both the BJD and the BJP claimed the party’s new narrative would not be accepted by the people. Bringing back leaders In Kumar’s less than a month-long tenure as AICC in-charge, the party has withdrawn the suspension of two senior leaders — Cuttack-Barabati MLA Mohammed Moquim and ex-MLA Chiranjib Biswal. It also revoked the expulsion of former MLA Krushna Chandra Sagaria. Kumar also oversaw the return of former CM Giridhar Gamang, his wife and son in Delhi, after they spent months trying to finalise a deal for their rehabilitation in the Congress. Former Bargarh MP Sanjay Bhoi, who switched to the BJP last December, also made a comeback. The party also got a shot in the arm in Kalahandi district, where former minister and five-time MLA Balabhadra Majhi, who resigned from the BJD recently, joined the Congress. “Many other senior leaders, who have either switched to the BJD or the BJP, are trying to return to the Congress. Some senior BJD and BJP leaders are also looking at Congress as an option. Many of them are in touch either with the AICC in-charge, the PCC leadership or senior leaders in Delhi. We want to welcome whoever wants to work for the Congress,” said a senior Congress leader. New ticket distribution formula Kumar said the Congress will have a new mechanism for ticket distribution to make it transparent and to ensure that suitable candidates get a chance. He said an online portal will be launched through which anyone can apply for tickets and it will be done without any bias or recommendations. Those who are looking to fight the polls have been asked to remain in their constituency and to continue with their people-connect exercises. The party also hopes to gain from Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which is expected to reach Odisha on February 4 and will cover over 340 km across districts like Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Jharsuguda. AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge will also address a public rally in Bhubaneswar on January 29 in a bid to galvanise party workers ahead of the polls. The Congress has christened the Kharge rally as “Odisha Banchao Samabesh” (Save Odisha conclave) in tune with the party’s strategy of invoking Odia Pride
