New Delhi: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) founded in the name of legendary leader of Odisha and Indian public life Shri Biju Patnaik on 26th December 1997 represented his vision rooted in secularism, value based politics and protection of human security. Such political persuasion of BJD has ushered in all round development of the State of Odisha and its people.
BJD has Created Record in Enjoying pro Incumbency
Its 23rd foundation day is being celebrated a few months after the massive victory registered by the party in the last Assembly elections conducted in March and April 2019. The people of Odisha have given a huge mandate to it for the fifth term and its impressive electoral success constitutes a record breaking performance in the history of independent India. Rarely a party in India has such stellar record of pro-incumbency and the record of BJD in this regard is soon going to be unmatched in the annals of modern India’s history.
BJD has become a People’s Movement Championing Secularism
Its top leadership represented by Shri Naveen Patnaik who is the President of BJD and its other leaders and workers at every level of the party organization be they women, men or the transgender have worked tirelessly and rendered service to people and the State and set a high benchmark of dedication and commitment to the lofty objectives of the party. Its impressive people’s mandate combined with enrolment of one crore members in its fold has made it a truly people’s institution and a movement which has used politics as an instrument of service and empowerment.
Its resilience as a regional party upholding secularism, strengthening federal frame work and championing an architecture of governance to save life from natural disasters, promote women’s empowerment and people’s welfare and above all uphold efficiency and cleanliness in public life has underlined its transformational significance for the whole country.
Civility and Grace of Naveen Patnaik give Depth and Content to Civilised Politics
Founded 23 years back on 26th December 1997, three years before the advent of the twenty first century, it has become the nucleus of public life of Odisha. Its apex leadership represented a new and refreshing trend in Indian and global politics and the civility and grace of the President of BJD Shri Naveen Patnaik in the rough and tumble of politics and public life of India constitutes a marvel worth replicating in multi layered federal politics of India which often suffers from deficit of decency.
BJD has Set a High Global Bench mark in Managing Disasters and Saving Human Life
When BJD was founded twenty three years back Odisha had the dubious distinction of 60 percent of its people mired below poverty line. The high corruption at every level of governance attributed to party which ruled the State for most of the period after independence of India retarded its development and progress and tarnished its image. The low human development indices of the State because of the lack of investment for developing capabilities of people and the neglect of the State by those wielding power at the centre truly had made Odisha the “Cinderella of modern India”, to quote the words of justice H R Khanna.
The beloved State of Odisha suffered immeasurably because of utter lack of governance to manage disaster wrought by super cyclone of 1999 and at least ten thousand people died and property and livelihoods worth millions of rupees were lost. The BJD receiving mandate of the people in 2000 to govern in that tragic backdrop posed a huge challenge and people earnestly hoped that there would be a system of governance for management of natural disasters that would safeguard right to life. The subsequent cyclones and natural disasters the State of Odisha faced were met with resoluteness by BJD Government and the whole world and even the United Nations commended the high bench mark of governance in managing them and saving precious human lives. For the first time the BJD Government headed by Shri Naveen Patnaik took Odisha to the world stage for its highly meritorious work in protecting lives of people from natural disasters of apocalyptic proportions. The way in which the BJD Government in the last week of April 2019 could move 1.7 million people to safe places in twenty four hours just before Odisha was hit by Fani cyclone, described as worse than super cyclone of 1999, was appreciated in an article in New York Times- “How do you save a million people from a cyclone? Ask a poor State in India”.
BJD Government’s Impressive Record of reducing poverty rate in Odisha and Making the State Poverty Free
On the twenty three anniversary of BJD the image of Odisha has improved vastly and its poverty rate from 60 percent, when the party was founded, has come down to 29 per cent. In the Governor’s address to the Assembly, after Shri Naveen Patnaik formed Government for the fifth time, it has been outlined that by 2024 the State would be made poverty free. Such a challenging vision is in tune with the vision articulated by economist Jeffrey Sachs who in 2003 in his book “The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities of Our Time” argued that eradication of poverty is a doable proposition. A poverty free Odisha conjured up by the BJD Government is also in harmony with the vision of Nobel Laureate Muhhamed Yunus who while receiving Nobel Prize for peace for propagating micro credit and proclaiming that right to credit is a human right said boldly that poverty should be there in museum in twenty first century and not in society. The rate of reduction of poverty in Odisha is the highest in the country and if the momentum is sustained then BJD and the BJD Government can usher in a bold and brave new Odisha marked by absence of poverty. It is also possible given the fact that rate of economic growth of Odisha is quite high in relation to the national average. On 23rd anniversary of the party let all concerned dedicate themselves to the noble cause.
BJD Government won Global Habitat Award for giving land rights to slum dwellers
Recently the Government of Odisha was conferred with Global Habitat Award for its legislation of 1917 to guarantee land rights to slum dwellers. It has been a major success for the State. One of the objectives of the legislations has been to provide the slum dwellers opportunities so that they could get access to civic amenities which in turn would contribute to poverty eradication. Already over 50, 000 slum dwellers have been given land rights and the mission is to grant such rights to two million people. It is a bold step for ensuring shelter security to people who are in slums of the urban areas.
Splendid Record of BJD in Empowering Women
One of the extraordinary accomplishments of the BJD during these twenty three years is its enviable record of women’s empowerment. By fielding women in 33 per cent of the parliamentary seats of Odisha for Lok Sabha during the last general elections it has exemplified its commitment to send more women to our apex legislature. It was a historic decision and fulfilled the vision of Mahatma Gandhi who had envisioned in 1931 that there should be more women in future legislatures of India. The epoch making decision of BJD was in tune with novel interpretation of non-violence by none other than Mahatma Gandhi who said that one component of non-violent mass action meant social enfranchisement of women. The BJD has followed the path shown by Bijubabu who reserved seats for women in Panchayat level. The party in fielding women in 33 per cent of Lok Sabha seats of the State has taken a huge step for political empowerment of women and it constitutes a splendid example for rest of the country. The party President Shri Naveen Patnaik wrote to the President of all political parties to do so at the State and national levels. In doing this the BJD has remained in the forefront in engendering politics which is often male dominated.
The party in its mission of making politics more inclusive has appointed a transgender, Meera Parida as the Vice President of its women’s wing. It is first of its kind in the country. Such trend setting decisions of the party makes it an organization which is using politics from the broader perspective of empowerment of hitherto neglected sections. At a time when there is worldwide trend of recognizing the third gender and guaranteeing it legitimate place and dignity, the BJD is leaving no stone unturned in setting an example in this regard in the State of Odisha and indeed in the whole of India.
The mighty movement for women’s empowerment in the State was unleashed when Self Help Groups were established four to five years after BJD was formed in 1997. And now as party celebrates its 23rd anniversary the leaders and rank and file of the party and the whole State of Odisha note with satisfaction that the SHGs have now in their fold seven million women. They have heralded a new vision, hope and shown a road map for greater empowerment of women. All such wide spectrum activities constitute the social engineering which is transforming society and economy in a decisive way for achieving positive social changes which are of lasting significance.
Five Ts and Gandhian Governance
The massive mandate the party is getting in successive elections has made it more oriented and determined to serve people. That was why the party after getting an impressive mandate for the fifth time is being guided by its President Shri Naveen Patnaik who as Chief Minister of the State has adopted Five Ts – Technology, Transparency, Timeliness, Team Spirit and Transformation – as the core of governance. The Mo Sarkar or MY Government Scheme is anchored on Five Ts. It reinforces more forcefully the idea that government employees and people’s representatives are servants of people and not their masters and so they should treat people, who visit them to seek remedies to their grievances, with respect. That is why Chief Minister himself calls some of those who visit Government offices to find out the way in which they and their grievances were dealt with. Such an approach has vastly improved governance. In according goodness of the people and their requirements over legal formal approach, the Five Ts embody the vision of Mahatma Gandhi who had the ambition to wipe out every tear of every eye. In fact Five Ts were implemented on 2nd October this year when 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi commenced across the country. The New Indian Express, a leading English daily, wrote an editorial on Five Ts under the caption “Gandhian Governance”. It is tune with Shri Naveen Patnaik’s advocacy that non-violence should be included in the Preamble of the Constitution to not only pay tribute to Gandhiji on the occasion of his 150th birth anniversary but also to eradicate poverty and defeat forces representing bigotry.
BJD, CAA, NRC and Secularism
Of late in the context of country wide protests against Citizenship Amendment Act and National Registry of Citizens many apprehensions were raised that the NDA Government at the Centre is assaulting the secular framework of governance and targeting Muslims unfairly. Minorities of our country, students, women and all sections of society expressed concern that CAA and NRC are recipes for disasters and chaos. BJD supported CAA by articulating firmly the points that apprehensions of Muslims should be addressed, Tamils from Sri Lanka should be included in the scope of the legislation and CAA should not be linked with NRC. Had these concerns of BJD been addressed by the Union Government the country wide protests would not have been witnessed. BJD President made it clear the BJD and the Government of Odisha would not support NRC. The stand of BJD in this regard affirms its secular credentials which are inherent to the credo of the party right from its inception and was best manifested in the statement of BJD President Shri Naveen Patnaik that every bone of his body is secular. He said so when secular character of the party was questioned because of alliance of BJD with BJP till 2009 and the Kandhmal riots which resulted in killing of many Christians. To unmistakably reaffirm the secular outlook BJD snapped the alliance with BJP and is fighting elections on its own since 2009 and winning successive elections with very big mandate. The 23rd Foundation Day of the Party firmly establishes the secularism of the party and it would rededicate itself to it with redoubled vigour.
In fact the remarkable work undertaken by the party for women’s rights and their empowerment proves the point that struggle for secularism is a struggle for women’s rights.
Recently the Transparency International has declared Odisha as one of the least corrupt States of India. It testifies to the party’s commitment to value based politics and clean and transparent governance. In fact BJD President Shri Naveen Patnaik has asked party people and all MPs, MLAs and Ministers to remain with people and stand by them in their trials and tribulations. He is also taking bi monthly reports of MPs, MLAs and Ministers. Such measures to hold them to account augurs well for keeping them oriented to take forward the cause of people. His appeal to them to lead simple life and avoid needless expensive life style augurs well for upholding value based politics.
Issue based Secular Politics of BJD is of National Significance
Biju Janata Dal in its manifesto released during the last general and Assembly Elections had reiterated its commitment to food security, shelter security and other securities which are integral to human security. The issue based politics of the party has categorically brought out its secular outlook time and again and so it is beyond question. The twenty three years of track record of the party and its role in governing the State for twenty years stand testimony to its issue based politics eschewing identity or religious based political persuasion. The observations of Shri Rajesh Ramachandran in his article “Manufactured Identities” published in the Tribune on 21st June 2019 are worth quoting to underline the country wide significance of politics of BJD. He said “Naveen Patnaik has never practiced the politics of caste or communal polarization, nor does he belong to a numerically significant caste group, nor does Odisha have a sizeable Muslim population. Yet, he wins election after election defeating the BJP twice. That ought to be the new normal in Indian politics: victory for transformational politics.”
The 23rd Foundation Day of BJD not only underlines its political worth and resilience but also brings out its relevance for transformation of society, economy and the larger nation. In these troubled times marked by upsurge of majoritarianism, therefore, the politics of BJD is of national significance to bring real issues of people to the centre stage of national agenda, This is the meaning of 23rd celebrations of BJD’s Foundation Day.