Naveen Patnaik hedges his political bets by skipping Niti Aayog meeting
Naveen Patnaik’s skipping of the Niti Aayog meeting came amid growing bonhomie between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during last week’s flagging off of the Vande Bharat express train from Puri
A week after Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his visions for the country during the flagging off of the Vande Bharat express train from Puri, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief quietly skipped the important governing council meeting of Niti Aayog chaired by PM on Saturday.
Though he was all set to fly to Delhi to attend the Niti Aayog meeting, the Odisha CM, who visited Delhi early this month and denied any plans of his party joining the Opposition front ahead of the 2024 polls, changed his mind at the last minute. People familiar with the matter in the chief minister’s office (CMO) said Patnaik stayed back to oversee the preparation of fourth anniversary of the 5th term as CM. “A series of review programmes of government performances were pre-scheduled. He is also undertaking the review of the fulfilment of promises made in 2019 BJD manifesto,” said a CMO official, who did not wish to be named. Patnaik took oath as CM for the 5th time on May 29, 2019.
Apart from Patnaik, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab’s Bhagwat Mann, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Telangana CM K Chandra Sekhar Rao, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Kerala CM Pinarai Vijayan did not attend the meeting citing various reasons.
Patnaik’s skipping of the Niti Aayog meeting came amid growing bonhomie between him and PM Modi during last week’s Vande Bharat express flagging off event where the PM addressed Odisha chief minister as “friend”. Patnaik, who hardly articulates his mind, praised Modi for his vision over bullet train. While inviting Modi to the inauguration of the airport at Puri four years later, Patnaik said his government would incorporate all the suggestions made by the PM to make it a “world-class sea-side airport”.
Three days ago, the bonhomie between the BJD and the BJP got a new lease of life with Patnaik making it clear that his party would attend the inauguration of the new Parliament building on Sunday amid boycott calls by opposition parties such as the Congress, TMC, JD(U), AAP, TRS and DMK who demanded that President Droupadi Murmu should do the honours instead of Modi.
“The President of India is the head of the Indian state. The Parliament represents the 1.4 billion people of India. Both the institutions are symbols of Indian democracy and draw their authority from the Constitution of India. The office of the President of India is beyond politics. The issue can be debated later.” the BJD said.
The BJD’s stand was in consistence with its position since 2019 when the party supported the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as well as the scrapping of Article 370 in Parliament.
BJD leaders did not comment on Patnaik skipping the crucial Niti Aayog meeting, but political observers said the latest move was typical of the Odisha CM in hedging his political bets. “As a politician with ear to the ground, Patnaik is not impervious to recent criticism of his action over his growing proximity to the BJP and PM Modi. What better way to send a message than skip a meeting chaired by PM? With elections less than a year away, his action, often cosying upto Modi and then distancing him, would keep everyone including the BJP voters guessing,” said political analyst Rabi Das.
Another political analyst said the recent utterance of former finance minister and senior BJD MLA Shashi Bhushan Behera in criticising the central government order on the withdrawal of ₹2,000 note from circulation was an indication that the BJD is an expert in playing its politics of equidistance. Behera said the Modi government was creating financial instability by taking such decisions.
Political analyst Satya Prakash Dash said Behera could never have criticised the decision on ₹2,000 notes without green light from the chief minister. “Naveen Patnaik is not the one to be straightjacketed and can always throw a surprise. Though he is not yet in the Opposition camp, he is not averse to keep the door ajar with an eye on 2024 polls. But at the same time he would not do anything that would upset the Modi apple cart,” said Dash.