For BRS, South Odisha promises to be a happy hunting ground

By Suryanarayan Panda & Rajendra Gouda

Koraput/ Jeypore. 28: South Odisha comprising Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Ganjam and Gajapati districts may turn out to be a happy hunting ground for Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) led by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

As the former Odisha CM and nine-time Lok Sabha member Giridhar Gamang, his son Shishir Gamang and former Koraput Lok Sabha member Jayaram Pangi along with three hundred of their supporters joined the BRS in Hyderabad on Friday afternoon, political circles here appeared quite busy in calculating the net outcome of the fresh political development.

Sources said the BRS is eyeing Koraput, Nabarangpur and Berhampur Lok Sabha seats. The assembly constituencies in the radar of the BRS include Malkangiri and Chitrokonda in Malkangiri district, Koraput, Pottangi, Laxmipur, Jeypore and Kotpad in Koraput district, Aska, Berhampur, Bhanjanagar, Chhatrapur, Chikiti, Digapahandi, Gopalpur, Hinjili, Kabisuryanagar, Khalikote, Polsara, Sanakhemundi, Suruda, Nabarangpur, Umerkote and Jharigaon in Nabarangpur district, Paralakhemundi and Mohana in Gajapati district.

The above constituencies have sizeable number of Telugu-speaking population. People of these areas have strong socio-economic and cultural connections with Telangana and the BRS believes these ties will help the party reap political benefits.

Since 2000, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has remained an unchallenged force and the Opposition Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been at their wit’s end on how to vanquish the regional outfit.

The two opposition parties have failed to gain the confidence of the voters largely due to their confused stands against the BJD. Although the top opposition leaders fire salvos at the BJD and its leadership during election campaigns on different issues, they almost silence their guns post the polls. Add to this, many of them maintain cozy relationships with the government to protect their own business interests.

Seshadeb Nanda, a farmer leader who joined the BRS on Friday, said the Odisha unit would unequivocally raise the burning issue of the state and never compromise with the ruling party.

“The Congress and BJP, the two major opposition parties in the state, have no distinct idea how to defeat the ruling BJD which is neck-deep involved in corruption and nepotism. The state administration is being run in the most despotic manner sans a strong opposition. We will try not only to fill this void but also unseat the BJD from power to serve the people,” said Mr Nanda.