Orissa Dal Trying To Head Off Bjp-Engineered Split

The death last week of the Orissa Janata Dals titan, Biju Patnaik, has caused a war of nerves between the BJP, which hopes to split the states Dal unit, and some senior Dal leaders, who are working to build an alliance of the Dal with the Left and such other leaders as former Union minister Bhakt Charan Das.

At issue is whether 16 of the 46 Dal MLAs in the state will split to join the BJP. Some senior BJP leaders claim that at least a dozen are ready to cross over. Bhakt Charan Das, who has been meeting parliamentary affairs minister Srikant Jena, says dismissively that no more than two are actually ready to cross over.

The BJP plans a huge welcome if a split does take place, according to a BJP vice-president. The BJP is to finalise a strategy to turn the situation to its advantage at the partys state executive meeting today. Party general secretary KN Govindachrya, who has been working to strenghten the BJP in the state, is likely to attend the meeting as the central observer.

Even when Patnaik was alive, about 12 JD MLAs had expressed their desire to join the party and contest the next Assembly elections on BJP tickets. They met former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and general secretary Pramod Mahajan, when they came to visit the ailing Patnaik in Delhi, a senior party leader says.

Vajpayee and Mahajan had reportedly advised them to get the support of at least four more MLAs to effect a split without attracting the provisions of the anti-defection law.

The JD has a legislative strength of 46 MLAs in a house of 147. The Congress, which is the ruling party, has 80 MLAs and the BJP has ten MLAs. In the BJPs estimation, a split in the JD would make the BJP the only alternative to the Congress in Orissa.

The BJP has been actively working for creating a strong political base in Orissa even if it meant taking former JD men into the party.

That the BJP had gained ground was clear at the recent Assembly bye-elections in the state when BJP candidate Biswabhusan Harichandan won from the Bhubaneshwar seat and replaced the Janata Dal as the second party at the Kamakhyanagar by polling 32, 000 votes as against 3,000 votes polled in earlier Assembly election. The Congress retained the seat.

We stand to gain in Orissa, says the BJPs general secretary in-charge for all India organisation, Kushabhau Thakre. The achievements at Bhubaneshwar and Orissa came even when Patnaik was alive, he pointed out.

The crisis in the Dals Orissa unit had begun even during Patnaikss time, Thakre asserted, and held that this would intensify after Patnaiks demise. The Dal in Orissa was nothing but Biju Patnaik, he said.