Intra-party factions create identity crisis for Anusaya Majhi, BJD MLA candidate in Rayagada
Rayagada,(Dr. Badal Tah): After Anusaya Majhi was declared as the candidate in Rayagada constituency by BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, there is a beeline of designated party members and Rayagada Municipality councilors including Chairman Mahesh Pattanaik in resigning from primary membership of BJD after registering their protest against Anusaya’s candidature. Others namely Tuni Huika, Chairman Rayagada block, Haraprasad Hepruka, Vice-Chairman, Rayagada block, Kantha Majhi, Chairman, Kashipur and scores of PRI members from Kashipur & Rayagada Panchayat Samitis have also resigned on the plea of Anusuya being the BJD candidate.
Thousands of BJD supporters and leaders led by State Mahila Vice President Sujata Palo, State Secretary Amiya Swain, Ex-Zilla Parishad Chairman Gangadhar Puala, District Youth President Abinash Bisoyi, District Secretary Hara Prasad Nayak, District Vice President Binayak Kar, District Mahila President Shramita Padhi, Kashipur Block President Binod Nayak, etc assembled in front of the house of N Bhaskar Rao and raised slogans against the unjust decision of the high command and questioned the criteria of selecting Anusaya as the candidate. The said leaders have also resigned as office bearers and primary members of BJD and sent their resignation letters to State President Naveen Pattanayak, State Vice-President N Bhaskar Rao & Rayagada Observer Atanu Sabyasasachi Nayak. Questions were raised regarding non-consultation with them. Ex-Minister Lal Bihari Himirika & other prominent leaders were present during this protest meeting.
During a press meeting last Friday, Ex-Zilla Parishad Chairman Gangadhar Puala raised a very controversial point regarding the tribal status of Anusaya. “She is not born from a tribal mother and never has been following traditional customs and culture followed by local tribals. Her caste certificate must be immediately withdrawn”, said Puala. Rayagada Block Chairperson Tuni Huika said that Anusaya had never done any visible work for the development of tribals during her stint as Chairperson of the Special Development Council, a body meant to upkeep the culture & ethos of tribal communities. She did not keep contact with any tribal women from Rayagada constituency. Instead, she was seen allying with a handful of women from other areas. If Anusuya continues to retain her ticket, she will be opposed openly tooth & nail, said Tuni.
“I started my career as BJD Zilla Parishad member in Kashipur and then became MLA. Though my sons are studying in CBSE English medium, they speak Kuvi Kandh language and follow all tribal traditions. This is not at all observed in the case of Anusuya. Being from Kashipur, she has never been with the pertinent issues of Kashipur like hunger deaths, cholera & gastroenteritis, mass migration, etc. She has never involved herself regarding proportionate spending of District Mineral Fund(DMF) in Kashipur, though hundreds of crores are contributed to DMF from this mining block”, said Bibhisan Majhi, Ex-MLA from Kashipur block.
After having a patient hearing of the aggrieved party members, Bhaskar Rao assured them to take those grievances to the high command. He was optimistic that the present decision on candidature would be reviewed and a judicious decision would be taken.
A group people of BJD party led by Konda Babu have come up in support of Anusuaya. Konda Babu had a press meet where Rayagada Municipality Vice-Chairperson Subhra Panda, Sr Advocate Braja Kishore Nayak, Mo Odisha Coordinator Gouri Shankar, Ex-BJD town President Satya Padhi were present. He has vehemently refuted the rumour of a mass resignation. “If there is a resignation spree, why has not Bhaskar Rao resigned himself ? This resignation drama is orchestrated by Bhaskar Rao himself”, said Konda Babu. Representatives from nine GPs of Kashipur block assembled during a friendly get-together and supported the candidature of Anusaya.
“There are primarily two factions in the BJD camp in Rayagada. One is led by Bhaskar Rao and the other by District BJD President Sudhir Dash. Earlier the chief lieutenant of Bhaskar Rao, Konda Babu alongwith present MLA Makaranda Muduli are in the camp of Sudhir Dash and are at loggerheads with Rao for various reasons. Having close proximity to 5-T chairman Pandian and Pranab Prakas Dash, Sudhir’s coterie has won the game. So, it is Sudhir’s candidates in Rayagada, Bissam Cuttack & Gunupur constituency, which has pinched Rao. Though Rao & his supporters have come to the streets, Sudhir and his strong supporter Minister Jagannath Saraka, MLA Muduli are still maintaining silence. BJP & Congress parties are yet to declare their candidates Rayagada constituency, though Appalaswamy Kadra from Congress & Basanta Ullaka from BJP are lobbying; but apprehensions still prevail about their candidatures in this complex situation. As polarisation of votes in Kashipur block is a known phenomenon, BJP & Congress may explore alternative candidates. Beldhar Majhi, a BJP activist, whose daughter was murdered in the vicinity of Maternity Waiting Home in Chandrapur PHC, has declared that he would contest as an independent candidate to seek justice for the mystery of his daughter’s murder. Krushna Chandra Mohapatra, who was instrumental in electing indendent candidate Makaranda Muduli as MLA, is also against the candidature of Anusaya and looking for a seasoned person to enter into the fray of electoral politics. Roles of corporate like Utkal Alumina and Vedanta-Maithri Infra in putting a pro-company candidate can not be ruled out. Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) always takes away sizable votes in this constituency. If, disgruntlement against Anusuya continues in this manner, winnability of her will be in the doldrums”, said Rasmi Ranjan Dora, a political analyst.
Meanwhile, Anusuya, as a reconciling measure, has met Bhaskar Rao, requested him to cooperate with her as the candidate and sought his blessings for the ensuing election. Whether this will lessen his anguish is a matter of time. Whether the high command will revisit his decision regarding Anusuaya’s candidature is a million dollar question.
