After the much-hyped 'Ghare Ghara Sankha' programme & the 'Jana Sampark Padayatra,' the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is going to launch a Paribar Sampark drive (family contact programme). The ruling party has decided to extend its Padayatra drive through this new 'Paribar Sampark' initiative.
However, opposition parties expressed misgivings on the efficacy of the Padayatra drive which was launched on October 2.
Speaking about the drive, senior BJD leader Debi Mishra said, “Ward committees are already there in each ward. The families in the ward are in constant touch with the party leaders. Now focus is to reach out to them and interact with them about various welfare measures of the Naveen Patnaik government."
Opposition leaders have raised questions over the BJD’s new drive and wondered if the Padayatra has backfired for which the family contact programme has been launched.
Also read: Balasore BJD too faction-ridden; disgruntled leaders vocal against Soro MLA
During the Padayatra, starting from Soro, Rajnagar, to Brahmagiri, the party saw wide fissures among the cadre and the rift came out in the open as parallel Padayatras were conducted by rival groups within the party.
Opposition leaders suspect that the BJD is trying to cover up its factionalism by initiating the new drive. In the Soro constituency, one group led by MLA Parshuram Dhada and the other led by the party’s vice president Ashok Nayak had conducted separate Padayatras. The situation was no different in the Rajnagar area of Kendrapara where one group was led by MLA Dhruba Sahu and the other was by ZP vice chairperson Ashok Padhiari.
In Brahmagiri, workers of two factions faced off and the video went viral on social media. This sent a wrong signal to the people that all was not well in the ruling party that had been claiming to come to power for the sixth time in a row.
After such untoward developments, party leadership is a worried lot while grassroots workers are said to be confused.
Congress leader Ganeswar Behera expressed serious doubts over the success of the BJD Padayatra. “The Padayatra that the BJD had started on Gandhi Jayanti has perhaps failed to yield expected results. Their leaders are scared. They have a feel that the families that they are now aiming to reach out to are far from them,” he observed.
BJP leader Prithviraj Harichandan took a dig at the ruling party, observing, “People are not ready to accept the BJD leader now. People are asking the party what they have done in the last 23 years. The factionalism in the party has gone to such an extent that the party's top leaders are feeling helpless. The factionalism got exposed during the Padayatra.”
However, political observer and senior journalist, Rabi Das said, “Though the BJD will reach out to families, the number of aspirants for party tickets in the 2024 elections is increasing rather than decreasing. Naturally, it will create dissatisfaction and rivalry, be it BJP or the BJD.”
It remains to be seen how far the new drive will yield political dividends for the BJD in the 2024 elections.