The country’s east is BJP’s next terrain for political expansion. In Orissa, the first move is proving smart.
When finance minister Arun Jaitley announced in his budget speech this year a commemoration of 200 years of Paika rebellion, not many outside Orissa would have heard about it before. Among the first armed uprisings against the British east India Company, it never found its place in history books where 1857 is the officially recognised as the first war of independence.
“Two hundred years ago, in 1817, a valiant uprising of soldiers led by Buxi Jagabandhu (Bidyadhar Mohapatra) took place in Khurda. We will commemorate the same appropriately,” Jaitley had said. Recognition of the Paika rebellion at the national level brought much cheer to Orissa —and was welcomed even by chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
Less than two months later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi felicitated at Bhubaneswar’s Raj Bhavan descendants of 16 families associated with the rebellion. He was in Orissa to attend the Bharatiya Janata Party’s April 15-16 national executive. The venue was strategically chosen: the party is making a big push to mop up the unconquered parts of eastern India. Orissa, West Bengal, Tripura and the remaining states of the Northeast still form territory where the BJP is yet to create a firm imprint.
Among those honoured by Modi was Upasana Mohapatra, daughter of late Congress leader Lalatendu (Lulu) Bidyadhar Mohapatra, a descendant of Buxi Jagabandhu. Lulu’s elder brother Lalitendu was also present at the function. Both Upasana and Lalitendu had earlier announced their intention of joining politics, and the buzz in Bhubaneswar is that the BJP would be their natural destination.
This story is from the May 01, 2017 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 01, 2017 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Will Hindutva Survive After 2024?
The idealogy of Hindutva faces a challenge in staying relevant
A Terrific Tragicomedy
Paul Murray's The Bee Sting is a tender and extravagant sketch of apocalypse
Trapped in a Template
In the upcoming election, more than the Congress, the future of the Gandhi family is at stake
IDEOLOGY
Public opinion will never be devoid of ideology: but we shall destroy ourselves without philosophical courage
The Many Kerala Stories
How Kerala responded to the propaganda film The Kerala Story
Movies and a Mirage
Previously portrayed as a peaceful paradise, post-1990s Kashmir in Bollywood has become politicised
Lights, Cinema, Politics
FOR eight months before the 1983 state elections in undivided Andhra Pradesh, a modified green Chevrolet van would travel non-stop, except for the occasional pit stops and food breaks, across the state.
Cut, Copy, Paste
Representation of Muslim characters in Indian cinema has been limited—they are either terrorists or glorified individuals who have no substance other than fixed ideas of patriotism
The Spectre of Eisenstein
Cinema’s real potency to harness the power of enchantment might want to militate against its use as a servile, conformist propaganda vehicle
The Thalaiva Factor
At atime when Bollywood Is churning out propagandist narratives, south cinema, too, has Stories to tell