Jharsuguda: Amidst filing of nominations for panchayat elections, senior BJD leaders are leaving no stone unturned to ensure victory for party-backed sapranchs, zilla parishads and samiti members in Jharsuguda district.
However, internal bickering in some areas has posed as an obstacle to BJD’s plan.
Health Minister Naba Kishore Das and party’s district observer Subash Singh along with local leaders have been reviewing the party base, past poll performance and strategies for expansion.
Previously, Das had met party workers in several areas where vote percentage witnessed a decline in the last panchayat elections in Lakhanpur block.
In some areas, local leaders have complained to the minister that supporters of Anup Sai had not supported the party candidates. The allegation has exposed the faction within the party.
Das has urged local workers to make united efforts to ensure 100 per cent performance for the party in the upcoming elections.
What is doing the rounds in the political circles in the district is that there are about three factions of BJD – one led by Naba Das, another by loyalists of Late Kishore Mohanty and the other by Anup Sai.
The party in the district has supporters of the three leaders. Besides, leaders of other parties who have switched to BJD are allegedly being given priority. This has caused resentment among the party workers.
Ever since the formation of BJD, Kishore Mohanty was efficiently looking after the organisational matters of the party, said sources.
Later, Sai along with his supporters had crossed over to BJD from Congress. During that time, Kishore Mohanty and his supporters were not in good terms with Sai.
In 2019, Naba Das, a bête noire of Kishore Mohanty, joined the BJD, making it difficult for the latter and his supporters to accept the former.
However, Sai has been dismissed from the party while Kishore Mohanty died recently. Now, Das is leading the party organisation in the district. But the bigger challenge for him is to steer the organisation with two factions.
PNN