'Many veteran leaders in the Odisha BJP had met them, but their problems were never sorted out.'
Giridhar Gamang is a nine-term Lok Sabha MP from tribal-dominated Koraput. The former Odisha chief minister left the Congress, his party for four decades, to join the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2015.
Gamang quit the BJP last month to join K Chandrasekhar Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samiti along with his son Shishir Gamang, a former BJP state secretary in Odisha. The BRS -- earlier the Telangana Rashtra Samiti -- is expanding its base nationally and the Gamangs' entry in the BRS fold is likely to help expand its base in Odisha.
The father-son duo joined the BRS to protest the 'humiliation' that the veteran tribal leader faced in the BJP, which displaced the Congress as the principal Opposition party to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal.
"If you take a person into your party and then purposely create bottlenecks for him is humiliation that my self-respecting father, who has been a former chief minister and nine-time Lok Sabha MP, couldn't suffer quietly and so he resigned (from the BJP)," Shishir Gamang tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com.
Why did your father quit the BJP after being in the party since 2015? What went wrong?
The problem with the BJP was that there was a leadership crisis (in the Odisha BJP). Huge fighting was going on in the Odisha BJP with regards to the chief ministerial candidate. Due to this fight, no one was working properly, no one was being responsible or held accountable.
Basically, there was indecisiveness; there is also a perception that there is a tacit understanding between the BJP and the BJD (the Biju Janata Dal) and we were failing to attract new people into the party because of this perception.
Infighting within the BJP and the perception that there was tacit understanding between the BJP and BJD were the two main reasons why my father Giridhar Gamang and I quit the BJP.
Your father has charged the state BJP of humiliating him. What exactly happened?
I was promised an MP ticket (Member of Parliament in 2019) but that was given to someone else and after that, they were not letting us work in our constituency Koraput. Knowingly, they were putting unnecessary bottlenecks and not letting us work to strengthen the base and build up the party properly.
If you take a person into your party and then purposely create bottlenecks for him is humiliation that my self-respecting father, who has been a former chief minister (of Odisha) and nine-time Lok Sabha MP, couldn't suffer quietly and so he resigned.
Then you also start propaganda that he (Giridhar Gamang) is not effective and he doesn't have control.
Your father has been reported saying he shares a good relationship with Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Did he not speak to them before quitting the BJP?
We didn't speak to them because we had spoken to the (Odisha BJP) in-charge (Daggubati) Purandeswari (who was replaced in August 2022 by Sunil Bansal). We tried repeatedly to make her understand the ground realities, but she failed to understand it.
And with the kind of control that Dharmendra Pradhan (the Union minister of education, skill development and entrepreneurship who also hails from Odisha) holds over Amit Shah and others (the BJP's top central leadership), it would have been practically impossible for us to make them (Modi and Shah) understand anything.
To speak about what Dharmendra Pradhan is doing to the Odisha BJP in front of them (Modi and Shah) is practically impossible.
Are you blaming Dharmendra Pradhan for quitting the BJP?
He is the de facto party president (of Odisha). Nothing happens without his knowledge or understanding.
I had gone to him (Pradhan) and he made the necessary calls at least thrice to party people (BJP leadership in Odisha) regarding my issues. But no one listened to him.
So your father and you did meet Dharmendra Pradhan.
The point is no one implemented the changes that we wanted to be made in the state BJP. So, it's a big question mark if Mr Pradhan is really in control or he knowingly mujhe kaam karne nahi diya (my father and I were not allowed to work).
It is either of the two or both.
So you are not sure about if Dharmendra Pradhan was instrumental in having you quit the Odisha BJP?
Kind of because he's either indecisive or the coterie that surrounds him didn't allow us to work.
Why did your father and you not meet the prime minister or home minister?
Many veteran leaders in the Odisha BJP had met them (Modi and Shah) regarding similar issues that we were faced with.
Leaders like Dilip Ray, Bijoy Mohapatra (BJP heavyweights in Odisha who quit the party in November 2018) repeatedly met the PM and the then party president Amit Shah regarding similar issues, but their problems were never sorted out.
Toh hamein samajh main aa gaya ki ja ke bolenge phir bhi kuch nahi hone wala (We understood that no action would be taken even if we met and discussed our issues with them) so there was no point meeting them because nobody is going to listen to (any complaint or grievance against Dharmendra Pradhan).
Does Giridhar Gamang, left, want to become Odisha chief minister?
It is for KCR (chief minister of Telangana and the founder of Bharat Rashtra Samiti party K Chandrasekhar Rao) to decide. Had it been our own party I would have said something but since it (the BRS) is his party he will decide.
What made you choose the BRS instead of the BJD which is the most powerful party in Odisha today?
My father (Giridhar Gamang) had defeated Biju Patnaik (former Odisha chief minister and current CM Naveen Patnaik's father).
Historically, papa ka stand anti-BJD raha hai (my father has always opposed the BJD). With both the Congress and BJP having a tacit understanding with the BJD, it was pointless for us to go to the BJD.
So we want to fight the BJD because the state hasn't developed as well under them as it should have. There have been political manipulations with political parties getting managed, there being no opposition to the BJD.
Odisha is a mineral rich state and we are nowhere in the top ten (industrialised) states.
But with Naveen Patnaik being so strong politically and, as you say, there being a tacit understanding between the BJP, BJD and Congress having a tacit understanding, what future does the BRS have in Odisha?
It is difficult for him to manage a person like KCR. Naveen Patnaik knows it is impossible to buy a person like Giridhar Gamang. So, we stand a good chance to give a good fight to all these parties for Odisha's better future.
The resentment which exists in the BJD (against Patnaik) is huge and will show itself sooner. A lot of people from the BJD, BJP and Congress are interested to join us (the BRS).
Under Giridhar Gamang's leadership?
Yes, under his leadership.
Today, when everybody is showing eagerness to join the BJP, Giridhar Gamang and you have quit the party? What gives you the courage to swim against the tide?
If you do a careful study of the BJP after 2019 the party has not raised any serious issue against the BJD. There have been many issues of corruption and nepotism against the BJD, but the BJP knowingly did not raise these issues against the BJD.
The BJP don't want to make Naveen Patnaik angry at any cost. And the Congress is already defunct in Odisha.
Therefore, the BRS was our best option to give a fight to the BJD.
Across the country, Opposition parties have alleged that the BJP uses central investigation agencies against those who oppose the party politically. Do you and Giridhar Gamang not fear the same treatment from the BJP?
Our main fight is with the BJD, not with the BJP. If they still think we are their enemies, then let them do whatever they want to do.
