A meeting between veteran Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Member of Parliament Bhartruhari Mahtab and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fuelled speculation over the former joining the saffron party in Odisha.
Mr. Mahtab, according to political analysts, has not been in sync with the BJD’s core leadership for quite sometime now. There is uncertainty over whether the regional party would re-nominate him for the seventh consecutive time from the politically sensitive Cuttack seat.
“My meeting with the Prime Minister was just a courtesy call. Nothing much should be read into it,” Mr. Mahtab told The Hindu.
Mr. Mahtab, editor of the Odia daily Prajatantra, and son of former Odisha Chief Minister the late Harekrushna Mahtab, earned a name for himself with his illuminating debates on the floor of the Parliament, and has been the face of the BJD in New Delhi’s power circles. He also held the position of the leader of the BJD in the Lok Sabha.
The veteran leader has won the Cuttack Lok Sabha constituency six times consecutively since 1998, soon after the BJD was founded following the death of former Odisha CM Biju Patnaik. Though he has maintained the image of a statesman nationally, groupism within the BJD’s local unit in Cuttack has hampered his support base. He is criticised for not being able to take all the BJD factions along, yet harbours ambitions of leading the regional party at the Centre.
Party insiders said Mr. Mahtab was lucky to be chosen as a BJD candidate for the sixth time in the 2019 General Elections. Former MPs Prasanna Patasani and Arjun Charan Sethi were discontinued as BJD candidates after their five back-to-back wins from the Bhubaneswar and Bhadrak Lok Sabha seats, respectively.
“Mr. Mahtab is no doubt a tall leader in the BJD. But his grip over the BJD in Cuttack is too feeble for him to qualify as the automatic choice of BJD candidate for the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat,” Pratap Sahu, Cuttack-based political analyst, said.
“During the past 25 years, Mr. Mahtab has managed to win the elections only on the strength of the BJD. His meeting with the PM may just be a bargaining chip to exert pressure on the BJD leadership for choosing him again from the seat,” Mr. Sahu added.
Political observers said that while the BJD has been supporting various policies of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, Mr. Mahtab has been at the forefront in providing clarity on the party’s position.
Home Minister Amit Shah was the chief guest at the 75th anniversary celebration of Prajatantra, which Mr. Mahtab edits. His apparent growing closeness with the BJP leadership has led to speculation over the possibility of his switching sides.
