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BJD's dominance worries ally BJP

M I Khan in Bhubaneswar

It was the Bharatiya Janata Party's saffron wave that helped the Biju Janata Dal get its foot in the door. But now the BJP finds its electoral ally getting a bit too high-handed.

What has especially irked the state BJP is that it was refused two of the 12 seats allotted to the BJD in the last election. As per the agreement in the last election, the BJP was to contest nine seats and the BJD 12.

The BJP also took strong exception to the induction of seven MLAs from the Janata Dal (United) into the BJD last week.

The BJP terms it a violation of the alliance's moral code of conduct, even a betrayal. According to it, the induction was part of an effort by the BJD to increase its strength in the assembly so that it could claim the majority of seats in the next assembly election, due in March 2000.

The BJP is upset with the BJD think-tank's move to maintain dominance, though the regional party plans to cash in on the goodwill Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the BJP has garnered here.

Prashant Nanda, senior vice president of the state BJP, feels it was the Vajpayee euphoria that caused the BJP-BJD alliance to sweep Orissa in the last election.

State BJP leaders who met in Bhubaneswar two days ago indicated that the BJD had closed the door on further co-ordination by rejecting a review of the seat distribution formula and then inducting the JD-U MLAs without consulting or informing the BJP.

Worse, the BJD had inducted a former BJP leader, flouting an earlier alliance decision to neither encourage defections nor accept defectors from either party.

It had also been decided that the partners would hold discussions before entertaining any third force.

It may be recalled that a few months ago the BJD was shaken by a battle between party president Naveen Patnaik and rebel leader Bijoy Mohapatra after Patnaik dissolved the party's political affairs committee headed by Mohapatra.

There was speculation then that the rebels would either join the BJP or fashion a separate outfit to team up with the BJP.

But central BJP leaders, including Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and BJP president Shashikant 'Kushabhau' Thakre, had assured the BJD that the BJP would never encourage defections from its alliance partner or entertain the rebels.

The BJP leaders point out that despite inducting the seven MLAs now, the BJD still has trouble finding candidates for the Lok Sabha seats.

"This proved that we were right when we demanded more seats from the BJD this time," a BJP leader said.

Another source said the party was deciding to have no further co-ordination with the BJD since the alliance was limited to seat adjustments. The alliance would be limited to the Lok Sabha election, he said, adding that the BJP is also considering going it alone in the assembly election.

The saffron party's main problem is that it lacks leaders of stature in the state. And it relies to some degree on the appeal of Naveen Patnaik, son of the legendary Biju. The local term for it is the "Biju vote bank".

Despite the increase in the BJP's vote percentage in recent years and its sharp increase in popularity, party leaders aren't sure whether it's strong enough to beat the ruling Congress in a multi-cornered contest.

"We may go in for a fresh seat adjustment in the assembly elections, which will be decided on the basis of the alliance partners' performance in these elections," a BJP source said.

According to the source, the BJP led in 50 assembly segments in the nine Lok Sabha constituencies from which it contested in the last election. The BJD led in just 55 assembly segments in the 12 Lok Sabha constituencies it contested. The BJP also polled a bigger percentage of votes than the BJD in the state.

Political circles in the state capital say it is well-known that the BJP leadership is far behind its BJD counterpart in political manoeuvring, particularly because the BJD has some old hands adept at bargaining.

The BJP wasn't worried about Patnaik and the main architect of the BJP-BJD pact, Union Minister Dilip Ray, since they were known to be soft on the BJP. But it fears Mohapatra, who pushes a hard bargain with its central leadership.

It was he who embarrassed the BJP by raising the issue of conditional and issue-based support to the BJP-led central government. It was he again who got the BJD's main poll plank to be to get 'special category status' for Orissa. And it was he who put pressure on the BJP high command to induct more BJD MPs into the ministry.

The BJP tried to sideline Mohapatra in the BJD by encouraging Patnaik loyalists -- and failed. Now Mohapatra is again a central figure in the BJD and could leave his mark on the alliance. The BJP leaders have reputedly encouraged Mahapatra to split from the party, promising to join hands with him later. It's another matter that nothing materialises out of such dealing.

Interestingly, senior BJP leader Biswabhusan Harichandan, inspired by the matter of Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, said last June that the state chief minister ought to know the language and culture of the state. Patnaik is yet to learn Oriya and he is also not known to have opted for local dress and other habits.

Though Patnaik is seen as the next chief minister if the alliance comes to power, several BJP leaders said the matter of who will be chief minister is yet to be decided between the partners. Political circles see this statement only as an effort to warn the BJD not to push its luck with the BJP.

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