Adored by people, Naveen Patnaik went into cocoon: Bhartruhari Mahtab
Bhartruhari Mahtab, the six-time lawmaker from Cuttack who joined saying the BJP in March, said he sees no future for the Odisha’s ruling BJD
Six-time lawmaker Bhartruhari Mahtab resigned from Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in March saying the party had deviated from the path it had set out on. Now contesting from Cuttack on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket, Mahtab says he sees no future for the BJD. In an interview with HT, Mahtab spoke about BJD and why he switched sides. Edited excerpts:
Why did you quit BJD? You were considered close to chief minister Naveen Patnaik...
I resigned on March 22. After six days, the BJP asked me to join the party. The reason for joining is that the party (BJD), which was our pride and meant to bring change economically, socially, and even politically, has diverted from it. During the last 6-7 years, all power was concentrated with only one or two people. The chief minister, who was adored by the people, went into a cocoon or was forced to. There was no direct contact with the party leaders and workers and what to say of the people. BJD was founded to bring about change from the corruption and hooliganism of Congress. Subsequently, it became a victim of all these during the last 6-7 years. The party was under the shadow of corruption. The same thing went for ministers...those against whom there were allegations of murder, rape... they continue. There is no action. Some of them have been repeated as candidates in this election which shows the party has digressed.
BJP has alleged the chief minister is missing. He is not seen making any administrative decisions...
That is very clear. This is the development of the last 6-7 years. The person who was in the driver’s seat, leading the state and the party has been relegated to the background. A person who was once upon a time his private secretary is now controlling the party.
You are referring to VK Pandian, who says he is the most fitting successor to Patnaik. How does this sound to an average BJD worker?
That is the reason why everybody is upset.
BJP’s narrative of “Odia pride” seems to be pivoted on this one person...
No. It is not against one person. That is an impression that he wants to give that the BJP is against him. That is not true. When you play with Lord Jagannath, when you are dragging him on the streets to collect a handful of rice, that is where the Odia pride is hurt. Odia pride is seriously hurt when you close three doors of the temple and only allow one door for the devotees to enter. The last point which I will mention is there is a Ratna Bhandar or a treasury. It was last indexed in 1979. The law says that every 12 years, it has to be updated. The government says the key to it is lost. This is hurting the sentiment of all Odias.
Hundreds of acres of land were given to construct a university by Vedant. It was not even registered. Despite the high court decision to return the land, 13 months have passed... the land has not been returned to the temple.
As somebody who has seen BJD grow and what has transpired in the last 5-6 years, how do you see its future?
It has no future. It is not because I am not there, but I see how. We formed that party in 1997 after the demise of Biju Patnaik. There was a gradual increase in the support base for the party. In 2014, we had 20 members in Parliament out of 21 in 2019, it came down to 12. That was an indication of something wrong.
Are you trying to say BJD may not win for the sixth time?
I can see from the general public’s faces and how they are coming out openly.
Odisha government says its welfare schemes are so good they can be replicated nationally. But BJP says they repackage the central schemes...
Take the case of the Har Ghar Jal scheme of the Centre....it has been touted as Vasudha. Anyone coming from outside will only see these programmes and say these are state-specific but all of these programmes are central government schemes. When 108 Ambulance Service was rolled out, the sticker said it was because of the Odisha government, and finally, the BJP had to complain. Why should we indulge in this type of politics.
What will be BJP’s main poll plank?
It is [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi’s guarantee. Educated people are now seeing what is happening in states like Uttar Pradesh. In the last 10 years, it has become peaceful. Large investments are going there, unemployment to a great extent has subsided and the number of religious places upgraded. And in that respect, within the last 10 years, when we have a stable government in the state, which has a huge majority in the assembly, there is total subservience of bureaucracy. Why is the state not attracting investments...We have the minerals, electricity, and water. There are hardly any labour union problems still we are not attracting that much investment. What is pinching everyone is that most of the youths are running away to get employed elsewhere. They are skilled and go to Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Why cannot we provide them with jobs? In my constituency, I tried to reopen a textile mill, which was there earlier and shut down in 2002. A sugar and spinning mill were shut down but no attention was paid despite my repeated reminders.
Was it difficult convincing your supporters why you shifted to BJP?
Most of my supporters and the people in my constituency know why I have taken this decision. Before I took this decision, I had interacted privately with many of my friends, even those still in BJD. Most people are happy that at least I have come to the right party now and personally I am happy.
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