Three days after Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik started a political firestorm by accusing his government of underreporting Covid-19 deaths in his editorial piece, BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab today added fuel to the fire by making a veiled attack on the way the party is being run.
Though he did not name BJD in the editorial piece carried in his Odia daily Prajatantra, the reference to BJD was clear in his edit piece titled “Is difference of opinion tantamount to opposing the leader”.
“Is dissenting in the party being construed as opposing leader? An elected representative may be an MLA or MP, they are forced to give an opinion on any issues as per the direction of the party high command. An intellectual discussion cannot be held inside the House even if a member wants to discuss freely. They are forced to present some points in the House, keeping in mind the party’s interest only,” he wrote.
“If that party is in government, it is only a matter of time before some of the Pandit officers decide on the government’s policy. Most of the political parties are running in the same way as a company, with some of the loyal managers of the company owner and clerks running the organization. It is useless to expect democratic behaviour from a political party in which discussion or debate has stopped,” he further wrote.
Mahtab did not respond to repeated calls and messages for clarification on whether his opinion piece was directed at the way the BJD was being run, however, political analysts said there is little doubt about that.
{{/usCountry}}Mahtab did not respond to repeated calls and messages for clarification on whether his opinion piece was directed at the way the BJD was being run, however, political analysts said there is little doubt about that.
{{/usCountry}}“It’s no secret that many senior leaders, including Mahtab, have little say over the way the BJD is being run. But it has been happening for the last several years. One has to see why is he voicing his dissent after Soumya Patnaik wrote his dissenting editorial on Covid deaths in the state,” said Rabi Das, a political analyst.
On Thursday, BJD’s Patnaik who edits leading Odia daily ‘Sambad’, had written a front-page signed editorial accusing the state government of under-reporting deaths due to Covid-19 and demanded the government issues a white paper on Covid-19 deaths.
“The data of Covid deaths was manipulated due to a desperate race to be on the top and an attempt to cling onto past glory. In the present scenario, what the left hand is doing is not known to the right hand of the administration. Whether chief minister Naveen Patnaik is aware of it or not, we do not know for sure,” said Patnaik, arguing that a white paper on the deaths was a necessity. “People of the state will love him (Naveen Patnaik) more if he displays courage by releasing the white paper”.
None of the BJD spokespersons was willing to speak about Mahtab’s editorial. BJD leader and transport minister Padmanav Behera said it would not be appropriate for him to make any comment on the matter.
However, Congress leader and MLA Suresh Routray said the editorials by Patnaik and Mahtab shows that not everything was fine in the BJD. “There are so many BJD MLAs and MPs who are displeased over the party’s affairs. Naveen Babu is perhaps unaware of all these happenings. If this trend continues, the BJD would collapse in near future,” he said.