Will Rahul Experiment Succeed? Bhubaneswar : 5/October/2013 There seems to be no end to experiments by the Congress leadership so far Odisha is concerned. Unable to unseat Naveen Patnaik from the helm of affairs and having remained out of power for more than a decade, a worried Congress High Command has been making experiment after experiment to oust Naveen. However, all its efforts against Naveen have been ineffective. This time round, the AICC tried a different experiment by keeping the mighty Patnaiks out of the leadership war. Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, brother of former OPCC President Niranjan Patnaik and son-in-law of former Chief Minister JB Patnaik, has been expelled from the party’s primary membership for six years. His crime was that he organized “sankalp” rallies without taking Jayadev Jena’s permission. As part of the experiment, Niranjan Patnaik was removed from the post of OPCC President and Jayadev Jena got the berth. However, this generated panic in Patnaik camp of which Soumya took lead and organized ‘Sankalp Jatra’. “We are working to strengthen the party. Like Jaydev Jena, we are also working for Congress,” Soumya said. It is a fact that Soumya did not take the permission of the PCC Chief. However, his mistakes were not so serious that he should face expulsion, felt many leaders in the Congress. Besides Niranjan, the entire Patnaik camp has been opposing the party high command’s order and wanted that Soumya’s case should be given reconsideration. But, the mood in the Congress office is totally different. Jayadev and his associates are determined to keep Patnaiks at bay although the party is divided on the matter. Jayadev, backed by Union Minister Srikant Jena, has meanwhile being empowered by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi who has given unlimited power to the dalit leader to take decisions. Soumya was expelled from the Congress after 25 years of his membership as per the recommendation of the OPCC Disciplinary Committee headed by Harihar Karan, a known anti-Patnaik leader. With Naveen gaining strength day by day, the Congress leadership is frantic about regaining power. It wants to capture more MP seats in the 2014 elections, even if it fails to capture enough seats in the assembly. Of the 21 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress has at present only six seats while BJD has 14 MPs and one in the hands of CPI. The Congress leadership wants at least 10 seats this time. With Rahul Gandhi at the helm, the state Congress decided to do another experiment to keep Patnaiks out of the scene. Since 2000, the Congress high command has done several experiments. When BJD-BJP combine for the first time formed Government in Odisha, J B Patnaik was the OPCC President. As the party felt JB did not click, it installed Sarat Patnaik, a young leader from Western Odisha in 2002. Sarat Patnaik too failed forcing 10 Janpath to bring back J B Patnaik. The anti-Patnaik lobby worked overtime and J B was once more replaced by Jayadev Jena. However, as Congress’s believes in “Ye Dil Mange More”, it removed Jaydev and appointed K P Singhdeo as OPCC chief just prior to 2009 elections. The Brigadier’s performance was even worse. Party tickets were sold like cinema hall tickets and the party failed to choose the right candidates leading to a serious debacle. When KP was brought, it was thought that the Dhenkanal King’s clean image would fit to Naveen’s image. However, the Brigadier lost the battle before elections in 2009. The High Command thought that Patnaiks are better for Odisha. Niranjan Patnaik was brought back to the OPCC. Niranjan activated the party rank and file and organized a massive rally on September 6, 2012. And when Niranjan, the rich man, was gradually penetrating into rural areas, a ‘Poor Dalit’ Jaydev was brought back to the hot seat again. This way, Congress has installed at least five leaders in seven times to oust BJD. But, all of them have failed. Rahul Gandhi, known as a maverick in the Congress, has empowered Jayadev who wasted no time to oust Soumya Ranjan. Now with Soumya out of the party, the battle lines are clearly drawn and there has been no secret about the high command’s attitude towards Patnaiks. Rahul Gandhi in his new experiment has made it clear that the Congress would go to polls in 2014 without the Patnaiks. Will Patnaiks, the most powerful political family in Odisha, tolerate such humiliation or retaliate? Editor-turned politician Soumya Ranan has also made it clear that he would go to the people. And he is not the person to keep silent. He has planned a big media exercise with his Kanak Television scaling high and the Jatra Group penetrating into masses. A SMS campaign too is being planned, said a close confidant of Soumya. PCC insiders feel that removal of Soumya would certainly have an impact on the Congress in the state. And, the spoilsport will be the father-in-law not the son-in-law. Even today, J B Patnaik continues to have a statewide network of Congress workers even though he lives in Guwahati. The people who are connected to JB may not sit idle and prefer to either switch over to BJD or work against Jayadev. “If not Congress Patnaiks, it is better to have a BJD’s Patnaik at the helm of Odisha. There is no place for Jenas,” is the mantra of some old Congress hands in Odisha. Under such circumstances, will Rahul Gandhi’s experiment against Naveen succeed? Jaydev has completely failed to ensure victory of his party candidates in the recently concluded Urban Local Body polls even in his home town, Anandapur. There isn’t going to be a gold rush for the Congress in the next general elections. As said earlier, lack of unity would by itself ensure a defeat of Congress in the state. If this will be a major factor for the Congress’s defeat in the next polls, Jaydev’s actions are likely to keep Congress out of power for the fourth consecutive time. And it is Naveen who will have the last laugh, thanks to infighting in the century old party.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 10:51:52 +0000
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