By Deepak Kumar Rath
The first phase of elections to the 11 seats in the Lok Sabha and 77 Assembly seats was completed in Orissa on April 20, 2004 with 65 per cent polling taking place-the highest in the country. The second phase of election to the Lok Sabha seats was also completed in the coastal areas of Orissa.
The BJP-BJD combine in Orissa is expected to show one-sided and favourable results as the enthusiastic voters have started realising the ?feel-good? factor of the Vajpayee-led government at the Centre and the image of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik'sas the crusader against corruption.
When one travels through the remote rural areas of the Orissa, one realises that the construction of roads under the Prime Minister”s Sadak Yojana has really played a key role in establishing faith in the BJP-led NDA government. Starting from the capital town of Bhubaneswar and going to the remotest villages of Orissa, the common man shows appreciation and a spontaneous love for Vajpayee'scharismatic leadership against the Opposition'sno-prime-ministerial candidate. In the state, PCC president, J.B. Patnaik who has earned a reputation for encouraging corruption during his tenure as Chief Minister, is therefore no match for Naveen Patnaik, who has acquired the image of ?Mr Clean CM? in the last five years.
Naveen has left no stone unturned in removing corrupt people from his party and the government since the day he assumed charge as BJD president and later on by becoming the Chief Minister of Orissa. Recently Naveen suspended the former Speaker of the dissolved assembly, Sarat Kumar Kar on the charge of corruption. Kar joined the Congress and is contesting the elections from the Bhubaneswar Assembly seat on the Congress ticket.
Good governance and development are at the centrestage of the poll campaign of the BJP-BJD alliance in Orissa. In the last five years, roads under National Highways have doubled in Orissa from 1,600 km to 3,500 km and 1,100 villages have been linked to pucca roads under the Prime Minister'sSadak Yojana. On the other side, the ?Orissa Corruption Club? of Congress has absorbed the suspended leaders of the BJD who are now a spent force in the state, and have contested the election with no issue before them except to counter the strong BJP-BJD alliance.
The alliance government was formed at a time when the state was reeling under the impact of the devastating supercyclone that hit the coastal region of Orissa. Hapless people were living under the sun with no ray of hope from the Congress government in the state. As such, it was an uphill task before the alliance government to rebuild Orissa.
The rebel group of BJD, led-by Bijoy Mahapatra, who formed the Orissa Gana Parishad (OGP) in the past, has not been able to show its strength in the previous elections in the coastal areas. Thus, neither the OGP, which is a negligible force in the state, nor the fragmented Congress, which is faced with internal squabbling, is in a position to pose a serious threat to the strong BJP-BJD alliance.
