A key reason cited by leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not renewing its alliance with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) ahead of the Lok Sabha and state elections was the party’s commitment to protect ‘Odia Asmita (pride)’. Odia Asmita was being undermined and threatened by giving the reins of the regional satrap, the BJD, to bureaucrat turned politician VK Pandian, who traces his roots to Tamil Nadu, the BJP has argued.
The 49-year-old IAS officer of the 2000 batch, a confidant of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, resigned from service and joined the BJD last year. He has since been perceived to take on the mantle of Patnaik’s political successor and is now at the centre of a raging debate between the ruling dispensation and the opposition.
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The prolonged negotiations between the BJP and BJD for what was touted as a reunion for “larger interests” was a political potboiler with an insipid ending. After attempts to renew the alliance after a 15-year hiatus came undone in March, the two parties, with a history of cordial ties, declared they would lock horns in the electoral battle.
An aggressive BJP, which is chasing a target of over 400 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats with its allies, found in Pandian a peg to hang its election narrative of Odia vs non-Odia. The insinuation has since become the anchor of the BJP’s election campaign in Odisha.
Odia vs outsider
BJP leaders who have reinforced identity politics in Odisha, linking it to pride, claim the issue has not been contrived or birthed in a political party war room. “It is an issue that has resonance on the ground. We are a party with an ear to the ground and we realised that the common man does not identify with Pandian and sees his elevation as a threat to Odia pride and ethnicity,” a party leader said, not wishing to be named.
The sentiment has found its way from street conversations to the election ground. Leading from the front, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the ‘asmita’ in a television interview. “Odia Asmita is in danger… Odia language is in danger. I don’t think Odia people will tolerate it for long,” he said.
Following his cue, BJP leaders have since then harped on the aberration of allowing an outsider take charge and sought to paint it as an intrusion. “We are not against anyone, or any ethnicity. We are questioning why has a person of non-Odia descent been given charge of a political party that promised to make a difference to the people of the state? And this is an issue that bothers the BJD as much. The difference is that they are afraid to speak, and some have left the party,” the BJP functionary said.
For ordinary citizens, the images of “Pandian on the stage while BJD leaders sit in the audience”, of him “zipping around in a helicopter” and ministers and lawmakers having to carry out his instructions are “jarring”, he added.
The BJD, on its part, has blamed the BJP for politicising an internal party decision and carrying out a “witch hunt” against Pandian.
BJP leader Sambit Patra, who is contesting from Puri Lok Sabha constituency, responded to the allegation that the BJP has politicised Pandian’s venture into politics. “Asmita is an important issue. Even the Prime Minister has spoken about it,” he said. “In 1936, we were the first state carved out on a linguistic basis.”
The BJP believes in taking steps to respect the language, preserve Odia literature and the state’s rich tradition and culture, Patra said. “These need preservation, these need to be taken forward. And someone from Odisha, who understands all these things, would be the apt person to take these things forward,” he said. “I won’t speak against any individual, but our issue is an idea of Utkal, the identity of Kalinga.”
BJD’s response
The BJD blames the BJP for raking up the issue in the absence of any credible poll agenda. The party claims its policies pivoted on welfare have left little room for its opponent to point out deficiencies, and therefore, the BJP is resorting to targeting an individual.
“When he was part of the administration, everyone heaped praise on him. There were no complaints of him being an outsider until he decided to join politics,” BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said. “The BJP forgets its own leaders who have come to Odisha from elsewhere. Who is Ashwani Vaishnaw, who is Aparajita Sarangi, is Dharmendra Pradhan’s wife an Odia? This is a witch hunt.”
Both Vaishnaw and Sarangi are former bureaucrats and are now lawmakers. Vaishnaw is from Rajasthan, while Sarangi, who is contesting from Bhubaneswar, was born in Bihar.
The preservation of Odia literature and culture has been prioritised by the Naveen Patnaik government, Mohanty said. “There is an Odia University in Puri, more teaching jobs have been created, scholarships instituted. No efforts have been spared,” he said.
Pandian, who is seen zipping across the state canvassing and shadowing the chief minister, has taken on the BJP for questioning his credentials. In an interview to a news agency, he asserted that he was a “natural successor” to all the great values of Patnaik. “I do everything under the sun to see that Naveen babu comes out with flying colours and continues to serve the people of Odisha in the best possible way and with all the big dreams he has for Odisha,” he told PTI.
Diversion
Not many are happy with the asmita issue and Odia vs non-Odia debate. The debate is a “diversion”, a former BJD leader said on condition of anonymity.
“The election should have been fought on issues. After 25 years in power, there should have been a forensic examination of the chief minister’s claims and assertions of good governance. But, both the BJD and BJP are overlooking concerns that matter to the people, drinking water, jobs and quality of education, for a non-issue,” the leader said.
Former bureaucrat and public policy analyst Prasanna Mishra did not take sides in this battle of narratives, although he criticised the BJD government for blurring the line between the bureaucracy and politics.
“The BJD is an indomitable poll machine. For the past 10 years, there has been blatant misuse of government machinery. There has been blatant use of the conch, the symbol of the BJD, in government documents, use of Naveen Patnaik in schemes (such as the Nuao Yuba Odisha Nabin Odisha),” Mishra said. “The party is encroaching on the government, and it is a dangerous trend.”
He criticised Patnaik for “brazenly misusing” the office and government resources to project a senior officer and create an image for Pandian. “Now it seems the political organisation more or less will succumb to him. The only silver lining is that good sense has prevailed, and he has resigned from service. But this does not take away the fact that there was illegal spending by the state to promote him,” he said.
Mishra does not foresee the asmita narrative affecting the outcome. “Pandian is the whipping boy. He is canvassing and is the face of the party. But the debate will peter out. In Koraput district, in the tribal belt, would this be an issue? The issues there will be freebies and inducements, not Odia vs non-Odia,” Mishra said.
“This idea of asmita is for armchair discussions. There have been two chief ministers whose language skills were not much to speak of, Congress’ Giridhar Gamang, whose language was unintelligible, and Naveen Patnaik. At least Pandian’s language skills are better than theirs,” he pointed out.
The issue of identity and Odia asmita are picking up pace, but political parties will need to make efforts to ensure it is not reduced to mere rhetoric, strategy and management consultant Devasis Sarangi said. “The younger people take pride in the culture and cuisine. The regional sentiment is being strengthened by the soft power of food and sweets,” he said. “But Odia asmita will have to be more than just a few words. It has to be an idea, and parties will have to specify the road map for the future.”
The road map that would define how lives will be impacted and changed for the better, as in the case of Basundi Pradhan of Sriramchandrapur village in Puri district’s Sakhigopal. The concept of Odia asmita is not linguistic or ethnic pride for Pradhan, who lives in a semi- pucca house.
Her grouse is the long trek she must make every day, sometimes multiple times a day, to fetch drinking water. “We have been voting for so long, but the government is yet to give us even drinking water,” she complained.
