Orissa parties in ‘Mission KBK’ mode now

Asianage, Nov 15, 2012
Akshaya Kumar Sahoo 

For all political parties in Orissa, it’s time to launch “Mission KBK” to sail through the 2014 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
After the Orissa Jana Morcha, the splinter group of the BJD, headed by chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s bête noire Pyarimohan Mohapatra, announced to hold a public rally at Bhawanipatna on October Nov 19, the district headquarters town of Kalahandi in western Orissa, the BJD and Congress have stepped up their activities in the region.
The three western and southern Orissa districts of Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput, briefly called the KBK region, is infamously known for its underdevelopment, hunger, malnutrition and migration of local people to other states to work in hazardous sectors.
Since early 1980s when reports of child sales appeared in the national media, the entire country was shocked, prompting the Union government to immediately announce a special package called — the KBK Plan. However, despite crores of rupees flowing to the region ever since, not significant changes have taken place in the life of the local people. Every time an election comes, the KBK region all on a sudden becomes focal point for all political parties for its geographical size and large share of population.
Fearing that the OJM might make a dent into its vote bank in KBK, chief minister Naveen Patnaik addressed as many as five meetings in the region last week. A dozen of ministers and almost half the BJD’s 104 MLAs camped in the area to ensure success of the CM’s programmes.
Not to lag behind, the Congress, the main Opposition in the Orissa Assembly, on Wednesday launched a five-day padyatra programme in western Orissa. Refusing to admit that the BJD was panicked at the OJM’s plan to hold a massive rally, senior BJD leader and government chief whip Prabhat Tripathy said the party had a solid foundation in the KBK and the chief minister’s programmes in the region aimed at consolidating it ahead of the 2014 polls.