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BJP has an edge in Orissa's tribal belt

Another Congress bastion faces a threat, with the saffron surge spreading to the tribal areas of Orissa.

Present electoral calculations show that the Bharatiya Janata Party has an edge in half a dozen tribal constituencies in backward western and southern Orissa.

Backed BY the Biju Janata Dal, the BJP leaders are confident of opening their account this time from the state. ''We are going to sweep the poll in the tribal belt,'' says state BJP president Juel Oram, a tribal himself, who is contesting from Sundergarh.

Driven by this optimism, the BJP has preferred the tribal seats in western Orissa, surrendering the coastal constituencies to the BJD.

''We have chosen to hit the Congress stronghold,'' said a senior BJP leader.

Four of the seven constituencies, where the saffron brigade is emerging as a force to reckon with, are reserved for tribals. The four seats are Koojhar, Mayurbhanj, Sundergarh and Nowrangpur.

The party has a strong presence in a few other constituencies, including Bolangir, Deograh, Samonalpur, Nowlanur and Kalahandi, where it did well last time.

Identifying Orissa as the launch pad for the party's 'march to the east', the BJP's central leadership has said it will open its account in the state. ''We are trying to surprise them by winning more seats,'' a senior BJP leader told Rediff On The NeT.

The BJP's optimism stems from the fact that since the 1995 assembly election, when the party won nine states, it has increased its share of votes and emerged as the third major political force in the state in 1996. It polled 1.73 million votes in that election. The party secured over 100,000 votes in seven constituencies.

The BJP, which was described by the late Biju Patnaik as a 'sign board' party, also overtook the Janata Dal in three constituencies, only to lose to the Congress.

Making its electoral debut in the state in 1984 -- when it fielded candidates in four of the 21 seats -- the party has been increasing its tally over the years. From 1.2 per cent in 1984 to 1.29 in 1989, when it fielded six candidates. But, in 1991, the percentage zoomed to 9.86, and in 1996, to 13.34 as against the Janata Dal's 30.05 per cent and the Congress's 43.67.

The party has done extremely well in Deogarh, where it has polled 30.4 per cent of the votes in the last election. While the party's popularity graph stood at 3.4 per cent elsewhere in the state, it was 16.25 per cent in Deogarh.

The party has renominated former state unit president Debendra Pradhan from the constituency.

Similar is the case with Keojhar seat, where the BJP cornered 25.21 per cent of the votes. It polled only 9.15 per cent of the votes in the 1991 Lok Sabha election.

According to the BJP, the prospects are also bright in Sundergarh. With Oram in the fray, the BJP has an advantage over other parties, particularly the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha which was defeated by the Congress with a margin of 13,000 votes, a BJP leader said.

Realising the BJP's growing popularity, the Congress has fielded a new face, S K Deo to shore up its prospects.

The BJP is equally confident of winning the Bolangir and Nowarangpur Lok Sabha seats. ''In Bolangir, the party polled 26.49 per cent of the votes in 1996, when it had no alliance with the BJD,'' said a party leader.

With the Congress denying a ticket to former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao from Behrampur, the BJP is trying to take advantage of the situation by fielding a royal, Gopinath Gajpaty, a former Congress MP who joined the BJP recently.

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