BHUBANESWAR: If the humiliation at the hustings is not enough, dissidence has hit the State unit of the BJP. A 10-member strong group, comprising Leader of Legislature Party KV Singhdeo, two MLAs and several former ministers, is camping in Delhi on an oust-Jual Oram campaign. “We met national president Nitin Gadkari at his residence on Saturday evening and apprised him of the sorry state of affairs of the Odisha BJP unit under the leadership Oram,’’ a senior party leader told this paper on condition of anonymity. Claiming that they had a long discussion with Gadkari, the sources said they made a strong plea for change of guard in the State unit for its revival. The party organisation has weakened due to growing dissidence promoted by Oram. They blamed Oram for the party’s poor performance in the panchayat election and defeat of the BJP candidate in Umerkote byelection. Alleging that party cadres are totally demoralised under the present dispensation, the dissident leaders reportedly told Gadkari that the silence of Oram on major issues, including multi-crore mining scam, has baffled them. A known Naveen-baiter when the BJP was in Government in alliance with the BJD, Oram’s silence on major issues of governance has not gone down well with the party cadres. While the BJP is trying to embarrass the Government by raising important issues in the Assembly, the State president has not shown any interest to take those issues to the people through public movement, they told Gadkari. The group strongly disapproved of Oram’s action against Bonai MLA Bhimsen Choudhury, who abstained during 2010 Rajya Sabha poll, and told Gadkari that any punitive action against the lawmaker will prove counterproductive to the party. The MLA had been suspended by the BJP for defying party whip. “I came to know from media that some party leaders from the State met Gadkari. I do not know the purpose of their meeting,” said Oram, who is also in Delhi for the last few days. Stating that he is a disciplined solder of the party, Oram said he would quit the moment he gets a hint from the national leadership that his continuation is no more desirable. Interestingly, Oram and the dissident group are reportedly put up in Odisha Nivas. Contacted, Singhdeo said he was in Jaipur to attend wedding of a relative and he had no idea of any meeting with Gadkari. Similar was the reply from former minister Jayanarayan Mishra. Mishra said he was in Jodhpur for the marriage function. Former minister Samir Dey and Bhrigu Bauxipatra, who are believed to be in Delhi, told this paper that they were in Mumbai. The other members of the group are former ministers Manmohan Samal, Surama Padhi, former deputy speaker Ramachandra Panda, former MLA Mohan Majhi and Samir Mohanty. The rebel group is planning to meet senior leaders like Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu.
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