ROURKELA: Will the BJP bounce back in this Zilla Parishad poll after its State president’s shocking defeat in 2009 Parliamentary election. Well, the election is all set to be a litmus test for the BJP and more so Jual Oram. Observers say if the prevailing trend in rural pockets is any indication then the BJP is likely to suffer heavily. Blame it on the local leaders who are seemingly caught in a time warp of the Vajpayee regime and failing miserably to reach out to the masses. Sources said BJP is a divided house in its three organisational districts - Panposh, Sundargarh and Bonai. With Jual busy covering the entire State, there are no popular leaders at the grass-roots to rejuvenate the demoralised workers. In the 35-member ZP council BJP secured six seats in 2007 -- a no gain no loss situation compared to the 2002 poll. The BJD, however, gained nine more seats from just one in 2002.In a guarded reply, Jual asserts that his party will definitely put up a better show, adding the non-performance and misdeeds of the Centre and the State governments would make the BJP a good alternative for the rural voters. Jual also brushed aside BJD’s claim that the Khandadhar mining issue for Posco in the Bonai sub-division as ‘dead’. The Khandadhar plank would boomerang on the BJD. On the expelled Bonai legislator Bhimsen Choudhary, the BJP chief showed no sympathy and categorically said Bhimsen is out of the BJP after he betrayed the party in the 2010 polls. Also, Jual’s style of functioning is not liked by a section of the committed workers who are lying low. Jual has to go a long way for a fresh lease of life in the party in his home district.
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