Bureaucrats running BJD, 'outsiders' in CMO trying to capture Odisha: Dharmendra Pradhan

Sambalpur, Odisha: Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal is facing public revolt for the first time and a caucus of 'outsiders' in the chief minister's office wants to capture the state, setting a dangerous trend, BJP leader and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan has claimed.

The education minister, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Sambalpur, also dismissed the speculation that there were any attempts from BJP to enter into an alliance with the BJD.

In an interview with PTI, Pradhan, who is returning to the electoral fray after 15 years, said, "The Odia identity is under threat and this election is all about that identity."

"The BJD is being run by a group of bureaucrats... The caucus in the chief minister's office, which has few non-Odia officers, came together and thought let's exploit the inability of the chief minister and let's create a vacuum from the back door. Their intention is to capture the state."

"This is a very dangerous trend and this is what the public is angry about besides their inaction on the ground,' Pradhan said in a veiled jibe at Patnaik's close aide V K Pandian.

A former IAS officer, Pandian last served as a private secretary to Odisha chief minister before quitting the service to join the BJD last year. Born in Tamil Nadu, Pandian studied in Delhi and started his career as a Punjab cadre IAS officer, but shifted to Odisha cadre after marrying an Odia.

Pradhan said this is the first time the so far popular chief minister is facing the heat from the public.

"The BJD is facing public revolt for the first time... We have been fighting with them for long. We fought elections together too in the past. But 2024 election is a new type of election for them... It is the most difficult election they would be facing," he said.

The assembly and parliamentary elections are being simultaneously held in Odisha. Patnaik will become the longest serving chief minister of India if his party wins the upcoming assembly polls. He is already the longest serving chief minister of Odisha.

Pradhan, however, said Patnaik's more than two-decade rule has brought little to the people of the state in way of solid development.

"For the last 24 years, Patnaik has been in-charge of the state as the chief minister but on all the fronts, be it social structure, infrastructure, economy, employment generation… This government has been an utter failure," he said.

The union minister alleged that the lack of basic facilities is causing large scale migration from the state.

"They do not have any vision or political will power… They do not have any commitment to the society."

"There is a huge anger among the youth, women, tribal people and different sections of the society... This is going to reflect in the voting behaviour. The people will teach them a lesson and there will be a befitting response," he said.

Asked how the BJD was able to secure a mandate for five consecutive terms if there are so many issues, Pradhan said, "Kabhi to sabr ka bandh tootata hai (The patience crosses its limit at some point). The 2024 elections will be a real test of his popularity... Soon, the BJD will not be seen in the state even by using the binoculars."

Pradhan, 54, also denied any talks of an alliance between the BJP and the BJD ahead of elections.

"There was no buzz of alliance from our side... We had no compulsions for an stitching alliance with them... On several national issues, various parties have supported us but it is not mandatory that we will fight elections with them together," he said.

Asked if he would be the BJP's chief ministerial face if the party comes to power in Odisha, Pradhan said, "There has been no decision yet. It will be decided by the party later only... But I am confident that the chief minister will be from the BJP."

The BJP leader filed his nomination from Sambalpur on Thursday. Polling in the state is scheduled in the sixth phase of the general election on May 25.

The high-profile Sambalpur constituency, which is the epicentre of western Odisha, is gearing up for a heated contest between Congress's Nagendra Pradhan, Dharmendra Pradhan and BJD's Pranab Prakash Das.

Nagendra Pradhan had won the constituency on a BJD ticket in the 2014 polls.

Dharmendra Pradhan, who hails from Talcher in Odisha, is the son of Debendra Pradhan who was also a union minister in the Vajpayee government between 1999 and 2004.

He began his political career in 1983 as an ABVP activist and was elected as its secretary. He also worked as a the BJP's election in-charge of Bihar and as an in-charge of the party affairs in Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Odisha and Jharkhand.

Dharmendra Pradhan is contesting an election after a gap of 15 years. He had last contested an election in 2009 after the end of the BJP-BJD alliance. He lost the assembly poll that year.

He was elected to the Odisha assembly in 2000 and to the Lok Sabha from Deogarh seat in 2004.

He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar in 2012 and again in 2018 from Madhya Pradesh.

On the opposition's allegations that the BJP will change the Constitution if voted to power, Pradhan said, "The Congress is scared... Their leadership has been re-launched and repackaged several times and they have faced defeat only."

"They are making all attempts now like using deep fake videos and misutilising AI (Artificial Intelligence), but the public knows about their deeds. The Congress' existence is in danger," he said.

Pradhan asserted that Odisha will contribute all the 24 seats to the clarion call of '400 par' given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.