The Hindu : Orissa BJP gets into election mode

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 28, 2003

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Orissa BJP gets into election mode

By Prafulla Das

BHUBANESWAR DEC. 27. Although the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls is not yet known, the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to have got into the election mode in Orissa. The party leaders are not only wooing different sections of the electorate but have also started using several outfits of the sangh parivar to brighten their poll prospects.

The Union Tribal Affairs Minister, Jual Oram, addressed a gathering of tribals from different parts of the State on Friday urging them to extend support to the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The meeting, attended by over 12,000 tribals armed with their traditional weapons, was organised by the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram to mark its golden jubilee. The Ashram, which claims to be championing the cause of tribals, plans to organise many more such meetings across the country by March next.

Mr. Oram said tribals had sacrificed a lot for the country's development by shifting their homes from one place to another to facilitate construction of various developmental projects. The National Democratic Alliance, under the leadership of Mr. Vajpayee, was striving to protect their interest.

The Minister said that if needed, the laws concerned would be amended to ensure that the tribals got the right over the forest, land and water. The chairman of the Backward Class Commission, Dilip Singh Bhuria, while underlining the need for economic development of tribals, urged them to vote for the BJP in future polls.

The BJP, which has a strong presence in the State's tribal belt, is making efforts to keep the base intact and widen it further. And, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, the party is likely to make use of all the 20-odd outfits of the sangh parivar that are active in the State.

The Biju Janata Dal, the BJP's partner in the two-party ruling coalition in Orissa, is also taking steps to strengthen its base in order to maintain its `big brother' image in the alliance. In the case of the Congress, its State unit president, Sarat Patnaik, had embarked on a State-wide `rath yatra' last month with a view to highlighting the `failures' of the BJD-BJP Government. But it came to an abrupt end when he was summoned to New Delhi by the high command.

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Orissa BJP gets into election mode