The rift in Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) deepened on Saturday as senior MLA and media baron Soumya Ranjan Patnaik accused the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) of calling the shots in the party.
Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, BJD MLA from Khandapada and owner-editor of leading Odia daily Sambad, in a press conference alleged that chief minister Naveen Patnaik probably thinks all his ministers to be incapable for which he gets his work done by the 5T secretary.
Referring to CM’s private secretary VK Pandian, who looks after the 5T initiatives (team work, technology, transparency, transformation and time limit) of the government, Pandian said, “Don’t we have any leaders to run the party? Only one or two IAS officers are there. If they have to do politics, they should resign from their jobs. Then nobody would oppose them. It is being said that the CMO has visited the districts. The Chief Minister’s Office means only that single person, who is taking care of the chief minister and the government works and hearing people’s grievances. Is it not an affront to a political leader?” asked
Pandian, a 2000 batch IAS officer, completed tours of all 147 assembly constituencies earlier this month. The opposition had accused him of canvassing for the BJD ahead of the state polls on the pretext of addressing people’s grievances.
{{/usCountry}}Pandian, a 2000 batch IAS officer, completed tours of all 147 assembly constituencies earlier this month. The opposition had accused him of canvassing for the BJD ahead of the state polls on the pretext of addressing people’s grievances.
{{/usCountry}}Patnaik said, “The 5T secretary cannot do politics while being a secretary. BJD workers at the grassroots level support my statement. However, if some people with a vested interest will run the party in the name of CM, it is not acceptable. The BJD is not anyone’s ancestral property.”
“The chief minister is lucky that a large number of people support the party. Is it my sin to point out that the chief minister’s popularity is on the wane? I am not saying this. The survey conducted by a magazine has said this. Is there any deliberation in our party as to why the popularity is diminishing? Is it anti-party activity to point out the party’s lacunae? If nodding head at everything is considered to be the job of a worker, then I am not that type of a worker,” he said.
He further said the Biju Janata Dal, under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik, has achieved enviable successes. “I feel proud to be in the party. However, if I, with my lifetime experience, point out the aberration in the party, is that a crime? If that amounts to indiscipline, then I am helpless,” he said.
“We cannot afford to be complacent that there is no alternative to us; we are invincible. Taking advantage of CM’s personal problems, a handful of individuals enjoying enormous power might pose a threat to the party in the future. I had cautioned the party well in advance through an editorial. My intention was to further strengthen the party,” he added.
The CMO did not react to Patnaik’s statement.
Training his gun at energy minister Pratap Deb, he said, “I have said ‘Aatmabibhor Prashasak and Asahaya Rajaneta’. Why they are not commenting on it? The chief minister knows that they are of no use. He has no confidence in them. That’s why things are being done by only one person. The minister (Deb) can’t direct me whether I should be the editor or in the party. As he belongs to a royal family, he treats others as his subjects. But I am not among those subjects. I want to tell him with due respect that I feel sorry seeing his helplessness.”
“I have never ever gone against the party,” he added.
Reacting to Patnaik, Deb said the former should resign first and then think of criticising the government.
“Although Soumya is an MLA from the Biju Janata Dal, he has been criticising the party and the government. If he wants to criticise, he should first resign from his post and party and then do so,” the minister said.
“The chief minister has already clarified why he was sending the 5T Secretary on visits to districts and there should not be any confusion about it. It seems to become a practice of Soumya Patnaik to blackmail the party and government through false criticism. If Soumya Patnaik thinks everything is wrong in the party and the government, he should resign,” he said.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi came out in Patnaik’s support.
“I shouldn’t give any statement on the ongoing infighting in the BJD party because that is their party matter. But as a common citizen, I would like to thank Soumya Babu. If he is trying to bring out the truth, then every BJD MLA should accept it positively. He is speaking for them. If the party had listened to his words and put them into use, then the people of the state wouldn’t have ridiculed the party over the governance model,” said Sarangi.