Berhampur: BJP has failed to open its account in Ganjam district after its erstwhile alliance partner BJD parted ways with it in 2008. Now, the saffron party is trying to wrest the two Lok Sabha seats in Ganjam from the ruling BJD in the next general elections scheduled for 2024. The issue has acquired prominence due to the frequent visits of BJP leaders to the district, which have heated up the politics in the area. Union Minister of State, Railways, Darshana Jardosh recently visited Ganjam district and reviewed the organisational status in some Assembly seats under the Aska Lok Sabha segment. She held discussions with some frontline party leaders and workers and shared some tips on the next general elections.
During discussions, she particularly laid stress on attracting women voters to the party. Earlier, two Central leaders of BJP Mahila Morcha, Sanjita Dogra, the president of Jammu-Kashmir Mahila Morcha and Sadhwi Bhuta, the national executive member of the party, had visited Ganjam district and toured various places of Aska and Berhampur Lok Sabha segments in last December. There they met only women leaders and workers of Mahila Morcha and held discussions with them. The two leaders advised the women leaders and workers to strengthen the women’s wing of the party. The two leaders also advised the party workers to sensitise women in rural areas about the women empowerment schemes of the Centre and the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. Darshana’s visit was along similar lines to the visit of the two party leaders.
Political analysts believe that the saffron party is eyeing to win the two Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 elections by creating a vote bank of women voters. This has given rise to the credence that BJP is only preparing a roadmap for the Lok Sabha elections and trying to assess its winning prospects from these two seats.
Reports said that the district has two Lok Sabha segmentsBerhampur and Aska and 13 Assembly seats. After severing of ties, BJP drew a blank in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Ganjam district held in 2009, 2017, and 2019. In the 1999 elections, BJD did not field any candidate from the Berhampur Lok Sabha segment leaving the seat to BJP. BJP’s candidate Anadi Sahu won this Lok Sabha seat with support from BJD. The alliance politics also helped BJP candidate Rama Chandra Panda win from Chhatrapur Assembly seat in the 2000 elections.
Later, Panda was elected as the deputy speaker of the state Assembly as per power-sharing formula between the two parties. BJP candidate Kishore Chandra Singhdeo also won from Sorada Assembly segment in the 2004 elections. After parting ways, BJP has been contesting on its own in 13 Assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats in the last three general elections but failed to win even from a single seat. Chatters have been abuzz that lotus will not bloom in the Ganjam district until and unless the conch is blown.
On the other hand, BJP’s vote share increased in the 2019 election in comparison with the 2009 and 2014 elections. Observers claim that BJP has made this gain at the expense of Congress’ weak organisational network and the absence of a strong candidate. The BJP party leaders are preparing to fight the next general elections in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for which Central leaders of the party are frequently visiting the district to prepare the base work. Observers opine that BJP may slip into the 2009 and 2014 situation if the Congress becomes active and fields strong candidates in the next general election.