The reshuffle of the union cabinet has disappointed the BJP rank and file, particularly, in the western Odisha belt which had given the party as many as five of the total eight MP’s from the state.

Western Odisha districts have favoured the BJP in the parliament, assembly and panchayat elections.

The party had been able to establish its foothold in the region comprising of Sambalpur, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Deogarh, Sundargarh districts ever since the year 2000 when it was in alliance with the BJD and the majority of the seats allotted to them belonged to these districts. The coastal belt was dominated by the BJD.

BJP workers and leaders were hopeful that at least one of the five MP’s from western Odisha would be inducted in the union cabinet as there were reports of educational qualification, regional and sub-regional aspects, caste being taken into consideration, though mostly in the context of Uttar Pradesh and a few other states.

The five elected MP’s from the western belt are Jual Oram, Sangeeta Singh Deo, Suresh Pujari, Basant Panda and Nitish Ganga Deb.

Admitting to the disappointment among workers, one of the MP’s said “ yes a few workers are disappointed but PM Narendra Modi has accorded importance to the state. We had two berths in the cabinet now we have three in Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Bishweswar Tudu”.

The ‘neglect’ of western Odisha is just one of the several debating points in political circles here including the BJP.

The other relates to the rise of bureaucrat turned corporate turned politician Ashwini Vaishnaw given the fact that he was elected to the Rajya Sabha with the help and support of the BJD in what is a rarity in Indian politics.

The BJD was comfortably placed to get any one of its own party members elected , yet CM Naveen Patnaik acceded to PM Modi’s request and declared that Vaishnaw will be a BJP candidate with the support of the BJD.

Vaishnaw had quit service after serving in the then PM Atal Behari Vajpayee and was known to be associated in the mining and steel business with interests in Odisha when he was nominated to the RS.

This had prompted political circles and the Opposition Congress to read between the lines and hurl accusations relating to the mighty influence of the mining lobby.

But the fact is that he had maintained his relations with CM Naveen Patnaik who used to be on excellent terms with late PM Vajpayee.

While there is near unanimity over Vaishnaw’s acumen in fostering the ‘private-public-partnership’ model and his skill, the BJP circles here are not enthused as they ‘do not identify him with Odisha”. It is like telling Dharmendra Pradhan belongs to Madhya Pradesh just because he is elected to RS from those states, remarked political circles.

The party organisation in Odisha has not benefited from the union cabinet reshuffle, the central government has, is the interpretation by many.