With Odisha's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) raking up a host of issues plaguing the State, in the Parliament, the ruling party has now come under fire from the Opposition unit which alleges that the party is resorting to its old practice of raising central neglect issue keeping in mind the crucial Panchayat polls.
The conch party has demanded 6 lakh houses in western and southern as well as KBK districts under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). The issue of non-lifting of parboiled rice from Odisha also echoed in the Rajya Sabha recently with BJD MPs demanding the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to lift the surplus rice at the earliest.
Furthermore, the regional party demanded the Centre to increase the MSP of paddy by implementing the MS Swaminathan Committee report.
Party president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also gave a measured response to recent Union Budget 2022, criticising the Centre more than praising for allegedly overlooking the State’s interest.
The development also came close on the heels of the State's opposition along with other states towards Centre's proposal for change in IAS cadre rules.
Experts say that though the fierce fight between BJP and BJD was evident during the 2019 elections, it became colder after the conch party retained power in the State. The BJD also chose not to agitate against the Centre even after the prices of petrol and diesel touched the new high and breached Rs 100 mark.
After the elections, the stance between BJD and BJP fuelled speculations that the two parties were maintaining cordial relations inside. Several instances also coroborated the theory, for example, BJD supported many bills brought by the Centre in the parliament.
But with Odisha set to face back to back elections to the Panchayati Raj institutions and Urban Election Bodies, the equation between the BJP and BJD seems to have changed which is evident from the regional party's renewed cry of central neglect.
Meanwhile, the State unit of BJP has churned out strategies to counter the BJD. Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan advised the party functionaries to divide into small groups and reach out to the people of the State with the achievements of the Narendra Modi government.
Apart from highlighting handsome Union budgetary allocations to State in education, railway and agriculture, the party functionaries have also been instructed to expose the failures of BJD on several fronts and alleged hijacking of the Central schemes by the State's ruling party.
BJD MP Subash Singh said, “We are waiting in vain for 6 lakh houses (under PMAY) for the past three years, but the Centre allocated 25 lakh houses to Karnataka in January 2022. With such stand and political partiality, the Centre is creating a major threat to the federal structure.”
BJP leader Prithviraj Harichandan however hit back at the BJD and said, “Sensing trouble in the Panchayat and urban elections due to its inefficiency and unable to face the people, the BJD is using the central negligence bogey against us. A political party must at least refrain itself from telling lies."
Meanwhile, the Congress party did not mince any words in its rant against both the BJD and BJP. “Whenever elections come, the BJD rakes up issues of neglect by the Centre, but as soon as they get over, the two become friends inside,” alleged Congress MLA Sura Routray.
Senior journalist Sandeep Sahu said, “In the past, we saw instances of BJP and BJD trading allegations before the elections and maintaining cordial relations once the polls are over. The same tactics are being adopted this time too in the run-up to the rural and urban polls.”