Bhubaneswar: The focus within BijuJanata Dal (BJD), Odisha’s ruling party, seems to be shifting slowly but surely from the legacy of BijuPatnaik, the legendary leader after whom it was named, to the legacy of his son and incumbent chief minister Naveen Patnaik. The party, which has been in power for the last 23 years, seems to be shedding its excessive reliance on BijuBabu and pinning its hopes almost entirely on Naveen who has emerged as a dominant political brand.
The branding of Naveen Patnaik, who has a formidable electoral record as a chief minister, has been a conscious effort on the part of state’s most successful regional party. Both the party and its government are now using the name “ Naveen” with its Odia variants like “Nabin” for coining slogans as well as naming new schemes. Earlier every slogan and every scheme of the government evoked Biju legacy but things are changing now.
The party in the past has reaped huge political dividends by evoking Biju legacy as BijuPatnaik, father of Naveen who was the most dominant political figure of his time and twice the chief minister of the state, was a multi-faceted hero knows as much for his daredevilry as a pilot as for his willingness to take risks as an entrepreneur and a politician. That is what made him a legend in his lifetime. But while there is no denying the importance of Biju legacy for the BJD, there are now visible signs of the party trying to shift the focus to brand Naveen. The son of BijuBabu, who is already the most successful chief minister of the state, seems set to create a legacy of his own.
It is significant to note that BJD spin doctors have begun Naveen’s political branding ahead of the crucial 2024 elections the chief minister will be looking for a sixth straight victory in the elections to become the longest serving chief minister of the country, a record he seems to have been eyeing for some time now. The new image makeover of Naveen began earlier this year when ahead of BijuBabu’s 107th birth anniversary on March 5 BJD leaders were asked to work towards a prosperous and empowered “Naveen Odisha.” It was both a pledge and a slogan to motivate party cadres. While Naveen literally means new, the significance of the use of the word which is also the first name of the chief minister was not lost on anyone. It was a reference to the rise of brand Naveen. This has become all the more obvious with Odisha cabinet recently approving ‘AmaOdisha, NabinOdisha’ scheme with a proposed allocation of Rs 4,000 crore for the development of rural infrastructure and providing linkage to small and existing projects. The name of the scheme also has a religious aspect with a vision to transform Odisha into a modern state while upholding the Jagannath culture which is based on inclusiveness and embraces everyone irrespective of caste and community. The chief minister is believed to be a great devotee of lord Jagannath, the presiding deity of the state like his father.
The scheme has been hailed as a historic move to preserve Jagannath culture and local places of worship, sites of historical significance and provide amenities to pilgrims and visitors with every gram panchayat eligible to take up work of up to Rs 10 lakh. The emphasis on panchayats is especially important in an election year. The government is trying to send out the message that Panchayati raj institutions are better placed than any other agency or institution to implement the new scheme which also underscores the need for bridging the gap in education infrastructure, providing banking facilities, building digital infrastructure and taking up other kinds of modernization work.
Naveen at the same time is taking care to strengthen the pro-people image of his government by asking all departments and district administrations to accord top priority to grievance redressal and ensure that petitions received from common people are taken seriously and their problems resolved at the earliest. The importance being attached to grievance redressal is evident from the fact that it is being brought under Mo Sarkar, the government’s transformative initiative. The CMO may soon be making calls to people to understand how their problems are being addressed. With elections drawing closer the chief minister is trying his best to balance the needs of every segment of the population. However, the most vulnerable segments like tribal and harijan communities are being paid special attention. This is a clever strategy considering that tribal people constitute a sizable vote-bank. Since Odisha is a tribal-dominated state with scheduled tribes constituting 22.85% of the population and scheduled castes making up 17.13% of it any government would feel obliged to take care of tribals and harijans. Odisha government will provide a one-time financial assistance of ₹50,000 to needy Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes students from underprivileged backgrounds pursuing degree courses in any government college. Aware that education is key to socio economic upliftment of people, especially under-developed people, the state government has been laying emphasis on providing residential facilities to tribal students. Hostel facilities are available to more than six lakh students from 4.2 lakh households in 1,735 schools functioning under the SC/ST development department. In the past over two decades the number of high schools under the department have almost doubled, from 215 to 422. Similarly, 62 higher secondary schools have been opened. In Odisha, the literacy rate is 69% for SCs and 52.24% for STs, much below the average literacy rate of 73% for the state. Hence, there is an urgent need to ensure the growth of the education sector. This is an area which is being accorded priority by the government. The state is already providing pre-matric scholarship to SC and ST students from class 8 to 9, and from class 9 to 10 to reduce the drop-out rate and improve enrolment and attendance. It is also giving post-matric scholarships to SC/ST students which ensures waiver of 90% of the academic fee and other expenses for the entire duration of a 4-year course up to an amount of ₹1 lakh per annum. In order to provide better education to the ST/SC students in the best English medium schools in different towns and cities of 17 districts of the state, a programme called Anwesha has been introduced. The government has set up special development councils for promotion, protection and preservation of tribal culture and traditions, heritage and identity by involving tribal people.
The programme has been expanded to 172 blocks of 23 districts, covering more than 84 lakh tribal people. The state has also launched a new scheme, ‘Mo Jungle Jami Yojana’ to ensure the right to hold and live in forests to all eligible tribal forest dwellers. While the process of creating brand Naveen is in full swing, schemes and programmes such as these have further boosted the popularity of the chief minister. No wonder BJD leaders remain confident about the chief minister winning a straight sixth term in 2024.
