By Biswaraj Patnaik in Puri, December 14, 2018: Only on 9 September this year, Amit Shah and his blind followers including Ravi Shankar, had arrogantly bragged in public that the BJP is so unshakable that it is bound to rule India for at least half a century. They claimed to have transformed India into one of the happiest of countries where people had forgotten the spelling of ‘sorrow’, ‘hunger’ and ‘bodily ailments’.

Amit Shah had said the party will win the 2019 elections because of its superb performance and no one can dethrone the BJP for the next three or so generations. All this boastful talk was heard at the national executive meet of the party three months ago.

The saffron masterminds had never been keen to learn from grave blunders even once. They had got wild to lose Manipur and Goa despite Parikar. They were boastful about Bijepur in Odisha and had to bite dust like never before. Their boss began to wear looks of a gangster and talked like an extortionist wherever he went to campaign for the party before polls.

He had the daring to scream in Odisha, “Uproot Naveen’s BJD and have it tossed into thin air” as the local saffron pinheads rejoiced and made merry. Unfortunately in Odisha, they haven’t had a good enough face to portray as the one to lead them to light.

Lately, they have captured a lady bureaucrat who has been fleeced to take the terrible decision of giving up job to play the extreme frontliner in the state. She has been made to believe that the next turn belongs to BJP as Shah has made all arrangements to ensure one hundred and twenty seats to form a monopoly government with her as CM.

But what has just happened in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh may have killed the saffron appetite and sleep irreparably- at least for another quarter of a year. Amit Shah and Modi have now gone into kind of hiding to shun the media’s invasive queries as to who has been wrong and why. Only smaller creatures from the party are making statements owning up all damages and complimenting the Congress victors because that’s the only way of being able to show face in public.

The Odisha BJP does not have any grey-matter guy to talk sense. They still keep saying that 2019 polls would show miracles, though in timid squeaky voices. Aparajita, the latest catch may be feeling horribly disturbed for having wrongly believed that all is hunky-dory for the Odisha saffron brigade. She could have done better in native Bihar with critical support from Nitish Kumar. She knows too well that Naveen’s dignified reticence and his show of warmth to even the bitterest foes have endeared him to the masses.

But she has been so enormously inspired by Modi’s explicit, outwardly energy as can’t be expressed. She thinks Naveen has less charisma than Modi. Further, she has never been able to figure out that Naveen’s complete control over the populist political class has proven incredibly effective as the people perceive every ordinary politician as a crook. The good-hearted political class is an extinct tribe as the people believe, and rightly so.

So, the wildest dream of capturing 120 plus seats in Odisha has been conclusively shattered never to float back in any sleep ever again. The BJP is gone only due to arrogance and indecently boastful rhetoric. The ‘Chaiwala prime minister’ who is slugging like mad is perhaps the saddest person today. No matter what, he has given his last drop of sweat to keep BJP afloat. But the headless motor mouths in the fold have spoiled all his game plans.

Besides, the people of India have long since realised that it’s not the ‘Vajpayee-Advani’ kind of BJP anymore with stalwarts like Arun Shourie, Jaswant Sinha, Jaswant Singh and matinee idol Shatrughan Sinha supporting on all fronts to buy people’s hearts. All the quality brains have abandoned the national party for the ‘tradesman boss’ and talkative chief executive wrongly tutored by hardcore market masters. Thus, the BJP has been crushed to dust already. Only divine miracles can restore public respect for the saffron fold engaged constantly in irritating the public by non-secular acts not forgivable ever.

As the BJP is biting dust in all its bastions, the Congress is celebrating as is very normal. However, the Congress gang in Odisha has simply no reason to get euphoric. The party has degenerated into a zero-value outfit since long. It has slipped further down after Niranjan Patnaik took over as the local head. This person who had entered the political precincts only because his younger brother had married late Janaki Ballav Patnaik’s daughter. Niranjan was a struggling businessman all his life until Janaki happened in the state.

Later, he amassed incalculable wealth by abusing political powers to grab mines and other lucrative big money-fetching objects and got rich. As his own insiders say, he has no brains or broadness of heart to keep the house in order. But some of the cash-crazy followers have chosen him to lead them, though absolutely in vain. The BJP at least looks visible and gets heard for the central leaders’ scrambling and machinations.

But the Odisha Congress has disintegrated into tiny camps and leagues. When they celebrated the three wins elsewhere, people of Odisha had the best laugh for Niranjan’s Congress has just no future. He is a self-serving politician at whom Srikant Jena has been throwing biting jibes for having been discarded unceremoniously. Both are despised by the people of Odisha. Jena had betrayed mentor Biju Patnaik so viciously as never to be forgiven by any sane Odia. So the battle between a self-serving political trader and a branded betrayer is feast to the eyes of the Odia people.

Once earlier, every time the central Congress party observer would come to make assessment of Niranjan as leader would go back giving a clean chit to the trader who would continue despite intense opposition and displeasure by nearly all party members. When the Congress boat has developed more leaking holes than ever before, Niranjan has taken over only to remain in news as he knows pretty well there is no chance of returning to power in lifetime.

Most interestingly, the irresponsible media keeps reporting about Dama Rout having floated a new political party, which is grossly wrong and misplaced. The truth is that he has joined hands with a defunct political body called Samata Kranti Dal founder by yet another long-forgotten character called Braja Tripathy who had abandoned the BJD for having fallen out with the then all powerful Pyari Mahapatra.

Braja had joined the BJP temporarily imagining he has enormous mass appeal and can pocket all votes without even going around the electorate. Braja lost so shameful that he chose to remain in virtual hiding ever since 2009. He has just regained consciousness because old guide-cum-chum Dama has been discarded. The two have decided to make the Samata Kranti outfit a force to reckon with as Dama still believes he is a political icon, and Braja does believe people are dying to have him back.

Thus, Dama has only joined a junkyard party rusting at all joints and terminals only because the founder has been lost in oblivion since ages. Dama has though made one big request : Prefix the name with ‘Biju’ because the legendary name spells magic even today. Dama Rout has chronic problems with brainy public officials- mostly bureaucrats. He had tough time with Pyari around. He called Pyari a sophisticated clerk or something who is expected to take orders, not pass any.

But Pyari, the steel-minded creature that he was, he made Dama run for life. Dama had even fallen on all fours before Pyari to enter BJD and survive politically. Pyari is no more; but Dama instead of capitalising on the opportunity, fooled around with yet other capable, skilled and powerful bureaucrats to run into trouble permanently. He went berserk, vomited and spewed such venom as to be forced to eat up himself and fall flat eventually.

It looks Dama is going to be out of sight forever for two big reasons- abandoning a happy home and entering into garbage yard. Even if they rename fold as Biju Samata Kranti or whatever, the name appears too clumsy and unacceptable with BJD flowing in the blood streams of many. No one worries about the founder Braja whose picture has been erased since long. The media must therefore carry the right story saying that Dama has not floated any new party.