All Is Not Well In BJD After Odisha Poll Debacle ?

Bhubaneswar: After its debacle in the last Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) appears to be encountering a major crisis in Odisha amid resentment among party workers and leaders. Rifts in the party in many areas, Cuttack to Barchana, have come to the fore. While several partymen have openly expressed their unhappiness over state of affairs, senior leaders have started staying away from party functions. The BJD, now the main opposition party in Odisha, launched its annual Jansampark Padyatra on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2. However, the regional party’s grip over its leaders seemed to have slackened. Those who never uttered a word when the BJD was in power have now started opening their mouth. Even stalwarts like Amar Satpathy are not joining party events. Though BJD president Naveen Patnaik has been making efforts to strengthen the party after the poll debacle, rift among leaders will make it an uphill task for him.