Bhubaneswar: After a long wait, the Congress party in Odisha has got a new leader. While the names of many stalwarts were being discussed for the key post, the high command has put its stamp of approval on the name of former Union Minister Bhakta Charan Das. The names of leaders like Mohammed Mokim and Koraput MP Saptagiri Ulaka were being contemplated for the top post of the state Congress. One wonders as to why did the top leadership of the national party choose Bhakta Das. As per political analysts, there are major reasons behind this.
1- Congress played the Dalit card
Earlier, the Congress had chosen Ramachandra Kadam as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the state. After picking up a tribal legislator as the CLP leader, the grand old party has now put its seal on Bhakta Das as the Dalit face as the PCC President. With the Panchayat elections in the state not far away, the party has made Bhakta the state Congress chief, keeping caste configuration in mind. It is said that the Delhi lobby has also worked in favour of Bhakta Das, a senior leader of the Dalit community.
2- Focus on Western Odisha
The party is also stated to have made Bhakta Das the PCC president with a plan to bolster its base in western Odisha. In the last elections, the Congress won 14 assembly seats, most of which were from western Odisha. Therefore, the Congress may try to strengthen its base in western Odisha. Since Bhakta Das himself is a big face of this region, the Congress decided to make him the PCC chief.
3-Bhakta has many years of experience
As a Congress leader, Bhakta Das has many years of experience. He was an MLA once and an MP three times. He won the Bhawanipatna assembly seat in 1985, and got elected from the Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency in 1989, 1996 and 2009. Bhakta was also a Minister at the Centre. In the face of intense internal turmoil in the Congress, the party high command appeared to have chosen a veteran leader like Bhakta as the PCC president to tackle the issue.
4- Big plan by Congress
After a disastrous show in the last assembly elections, there is dissatisfaction in the BJD. Congress may have devised a strategy to take advantage of this. Bhakta Das first started politics from Janata Dal and joined Congress later. Most of the leaders of Janata Dal later joined BJD. Therefore, the party appeared to have thought that Bhakta Das can work towards bringing disgruntled leaders from BJD to Congress.
5-Why Bhakta’s name is a big plan?
The Congress high command appeared to have eliminated other leaders who were in the PCC president race along with Bhakta Das for various reasons. The party did not want to take a risk by making Mohammed Moquim, who was embroiled in a corruption case, the PCC president. While Saptagiri has been elected as the only Congress MP from Odisha, he is a young leader and he may be given a chance later. Similarly, Srikant Jena, although a senior leader, had not been with Congress for a long time. Not all Congress leaders would have agreed on his leadership. Therefore, it is said that Bhakta Das, who remains the undisputed leader, has been chosen by the high command to lead the party in the state.
