OdishaPlus Bureau
When the 2019 Lok Sabha election results were declared and Odisha was sure of sending eight BJP members to Parliament, expectations were quite high that there will be enough number ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new cabinet. But those expectations were dashed on Thursday when Odisha got a very poor representation in the Council of Ministers.
Actually, Odisha had to satisfy with one cabinet minister and one minister of state. In the new CoM while Dharmendra Pradhan has retained his post along with portfolio,the only consolation prize is Pratap Sarangi’s appointment as minister of state. Logic demands that there should have been more representation in the CoM from Odisha given that the BJP got 8 MPs in its kitty from Odisha. All these MPs are from western Odisha – barring Aparajita Sarangi – which has been BJP’s fortress. Moreover, the BJP’s Look East policy succeeded to a great extent in the election.
Apparently, the ruling BJD and opposition Congress have accused the Prime Minister Modi of having ignored the western region of the state saying he has let down the people of western Odisha.The BJD’s criticism is further justified because Naveen has included five MLAs from western Odisha in the state cabinet in view of the importance of the region. While there is a strong contingent of five BJP MPs from western Odisha in Lok Sabha, none of them found a place in the new ministry.
So, even if the BJP led Government at the centre has ignored the western region of Odisha , it is to be hoped there will be a mid-course correction and more members from the backward KBK region will be included in the next expansion.
It may be recalled that, there was tough fight in the western Odisha between the ruling BJD and the BJP. As matter of fact, the BJP candidates had labored hard to get elected in the face of BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik contesting from Bijepur assembly segment. Further analysis would show that the Suresh Pujari took a calculated risk by becoming a candidate from Bargrh and not Sambalpur – his stronghold.
Election results say that while all the assembly seats have gone to the BJD, the BJP walked away with the Bargarh Lok Sabha seat. Besides Pujari had been instrumental in consolidating the party’s vote in West Bengal and a popular leader in western Odisha. Likewise Sundergarh MP Jual Oram was dropped from the cabinet this time, and his ministry has been given to former Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda. Odisha has constantly got the tribal ministry in the BJP regime because of the predominance of tribal population.
Odisha’s under-representation criticism in the union cabinet is strengthened by another argument. Dharmendra Pradhan who has been made a cabinet minister is not among the eight Lok Sabha MPs of the BJP, who fought and were elected from Odisha.
Dharmendra is actually a Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh and was unselfconfident of fighting the election. Point is even if the BJP led Government at the centre has ignored the western region of Odisha , it is to be hoped there will be a mid-course correction and more members from the backward KBK region will be included in the next expansion.