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One month after ending Mamata Banerjee’s 15-year rule, West Bengal’s first BJP government under chief minister Suvendu Adhikari has introduced major administrative, political and social changes since taking office on May 9. Prioritising border security, the state government transferred nearly 32 acres of land to the BSF for Bangladesh border fencing. It also approved handing over seven national highways in the Siliguri Corridor (“Chicken’s Neck”) to central agencies. In healthcare, the TMC’s Swasthya Sathi scheme has been replaced by Ayushman Bharat. The Annapurna Bhandar scheme, launched on June 4, provides Rs 3,000 monthly to 28-lakh plus women beneficiaries. Free travel for women on state-run buses began on June 1. The upper age limit for government jobs has been raised by five years. The government has reopened cases linked to post-poll violence after the 2021 Assembly and 2023 Panchayat elections. Education reforms include making Vande Mataram compulsory in government schools and reviewing all madrasas’ infrastructure, administration and legal status, with district magistrates directed to report by July 5. OBC reservation has been reduced from 17% to 7%, Muslim communities removed from the OBC list, and a new list of 66 OBC categories published following a Calcutta High Court order. Bulldozer drives in Kolkata and other districts, especially near railway stations, have sparked protests with the CPI(M), Congress and labour groups approaching the courts. Under the “Detect, Delete, Deport” policy, the government claims 4,800 people have been sent back to Bangladesh. Restrictions on prayers on public roads, mandatory approval for cow, bull and buffalo slaughter, and the withdrawal of honorariums and welfare grants for imams, muezzins and temple priests have also triggered concerns. A lot has been compressed in 30 days.
In what is being described as the most severe setback of her nearly five-decade-long political career, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee is facing an unprecedented rebellion within her party, with a group of 20 MPs reportedly breaking ranks and extending support to the BJP-led NDA. The dramatic event unfolded on Monday (June 8) when a faction led by senior TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar submitted a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressing support for the NDA government. The move came at a particularly embarrassing moment for the TMC chief as she was in the Capital attending a meeting of the opposition INDIA Bloc. According to sources, the rebel MPs subsequently attended a meeting at the residence of Union Minister and BJP’s West Bengal observer Bhupendra Yadav, where West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari was also present. The meeting has intensified speculation that the dissident lawmakers are preparing to formalise a separate parliamentary formation aligned with the NDA. After facing dissent among MLAs, the party is now confronting the prospect of a major split in its parliamentary ranks, with discussions intensifying around the formation of a “new Trinamool” group in Parliament. The crisis deepened further after Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy resigned from both Parliament and the party. He personally submitted his resignation to the Vice-President in New Delhi before issuing a strongly worded statement critical of the TMC leadership. Facing her gravest internal challenge in years, Mamata Banerjee has reportedly begun a frantic damage-control exercise. Party sources said she personally contacted several MPs over the past 24 hours in an effort to prevent further defections and reassure wavering leaders. The coming days could determine not only the future of the TMC Parliamentary presence but also the political legacy of Didi.
Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi will be completing two years in the office on June 12, 2026. His tenure so far has evoked mixed reactions. Constantly there were rumours that he may be replaced by a Union minister. He has survived two years. Yes, one cannot take away the fact that Odisha under Majhi’s leadership attracted investment of Rs 16.73 lakh crore during the Utkarsh Odisha Enclave held in January 2025, rolled out welfare schemes like Subhadra Yojana and restarted direct public grievance hearings. Yet, many are not optimistic that he will complete the full terms. There are several vexing issues like the deteriorating law and order, inadequate police force numbers, rising criminal activities and administrative inertia. BJP’s biggest challenge is the grassroot connect. Although it benefited from anti-incumbency against the Biju Janata Dal in 2024 it has yet to build a strong rural organisational structure to challenge BJD-Congress might. In fact, the previous Panchayati Raj elections highlighted this weakness clearly, with BJP winning only 42 Zilla Parishad seats against the BJD’s 766. With Panchayat elections approaching, BJP must expand its cadre-base and convince voters through governance improvement rather than relying solely on anti-BJD-Congress sentiment.
Reams have been written about the Tamil Nadu government selling liquor to its thirsty “Tamizh Kudimagan” (a comic double entendre popular in Tamil films). Equal number of reams have condemned and censured the State peddling liquor. Yet the sale of liquor is high and spirited in TN …in fact it is the revenue keg. The sale of liquor a day before dry days peaks. But the newly elected Tamil Nadu chief minister Joseph Vijay is now faced with electoral promises. The saying in Hindi, ‘Saamp bhi marein aur lathi bhi na toote’ (the snake should die and the stick should not break) is very appropriate here. Vijay’s first cabinet meeting had TASMAC on top of the agenda. Surprisingly Minnambalam, a Tamil digital news website had surmised earlier that the plan was to close TASMAC outlets and open bars, keeping TASMAC as the nodal procurement agency. Even as confabulations are on, the Minister for Prohibition& Excise K Vignesh talked about the viability of closure of over 720 outlets and launch of a new glitzy avatar of watering holes and bars. “The corruption and swindling by a big syndicate of Rs 3600 crore per year has been stopped. For years 88 lakh cases of liquor have been sourced from distilleries with a commission of Rs 90 per case”, says Vignesh. In the same breath he claims that there is no intention to privatise! If RK Laxman were to do a cartoon of the TASMAC ecosystem, we might laugh at the caricature of a thirsty guy pushing his way to the barred window to get his spiritual elixir, walk away cuddling the bottle with a side of pickle on a leaf. No wonder a former CM when cautioned by his advisors about lavish cash doles for women said “don’t stress. The thirsty husband will splurge that on TASMAC”. The politics of give and take.
Suryakumar Yadav had a hand in India’s back-to-back Twenty20 World Cup wins in Barbados in 2024 and Ahmedabad 2026. First, he converted a bunny hop catch to dismiss South African David Miller in the final in Barbados and two years later, he was at the helm of affairs in India. Yet, the selection committee has dropped him now from the team for the immediate Twenty20 engagements — lack of runs from his blade is the only reason the fans and others can surmise, especially so with the 2028 World Cup more than two years away in Australia and New Zealand. Yadav would have turned 38 then, and the committee felt the circumstances were right to look beyond Yadav in the shortest format of the game. Yadav was far from his best in the World Cup, scoring just 242 from nine matches. In the Asia Cup he made only 72 in seven matches. Against Australia he made only 84 in five, against South Africa 34 in four and against New Zealand 242 in five. The downhill started when he made only 26 in four matches in South Africa and 28 in five against England at home. One can say he was lucky to hold his place after the home series against England and after the Asia Cup; he was going through a rut! With Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer returning to the “good books”, Yadav had to go. Ajit Agarkar & company made Iyer captain; he lost six matches in a row as the Punjab Kings missed the playoffs bus. The selection committee may have felt that Tilak Varma is not ready yet to take up the stewardship of the Men in Blue Twenty20 team.
The humiliating defeat of Trinamool Congress in the Assembly polls is seeing the party head for a split. It has also given rise to the role and future position of 29 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Senior TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar triggered speculations when she wrote on X that “Do you think a four-time MP from a political family, who has stood beside Mamata Banerjee and fought against authoritarian systems for four decades, would think only of personal interests? This is actually a verdict against the failure of policy and governance.” Dastidar did not mention any individual or issue directly but her message was loud and clear. Dastidar, an influential figure within the Trinamool, has been a close associate of Mamata Banerjee. Until recently, she served as the party’s Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha. However, she was replaced in that role by Kalyan Banerjee, a development that many political analysts believe marked the beginning of growing distance between her and the party leadership. Subsequently, Dastidar publicly criticised political consultancy firm I-PAC, alleging that its activities had harmed the party. She later resigned from various organizational posts within the TMC. Political speculation intensified further when the Union government enhanced her security cover shortly after her resignations. According to sources, around 20 Trinamool MPs may hold a crucial meeting in the coming days. Reports suggest that a letter could subsequently be submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker seeking changes in the parliamentary party leadership. Speculation is rife that Dastidar’s name could be proposed as an alternative to current parliamentary leader Abhishek Banerjee.
The election to the Maharashtra Legislative Council is becoming more and more intriguing with one sensational disclosure after another by rival political parties. As expected, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut lobbed the first salvo. He alleged that Rs 150 crore had been spent by the ruling Mahayuti alliance comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde) and NCP (Ajit). It was his angry reaction to the humiliating show put out by the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), of which his leader Uddhav Thackeray is a major policy maker. Raut was immediately ridiculed since Uddhav’s confidant Bal Mane had withdrawn his nomination without giving a faintest hint to his leader. Moreover, Mane has returned to the BJP, which he had left some years ago. In all, the Congress and Sena (UBT) have been finding it most embarrassing as the Mahayuti is set to win almost each of the 17 seats for which election is being held. Developments in some legislative council constituencies have made the opposition leadership speechless since those withdrawing nominations did not even bother to formally convey their decisions. In most cases, the leaders learnt from TV channels of their candidates running away from the contest. Interestingly, Raut has been challenged by the BJP to announce why he failed to field a candidate of his party from Nasik, the district of which the MP is party’s organizational in charge. Has Raut accepted money for not contesting, the BJP has asked. More skeletons are expected to tumble out of the cupboard over the next few days.
Veteran leader Sharad Pawar gave his consent and NCP (Ajit) candidate for the legislative council, Vikram Kakade’s election for the upper house became a mere formality. The reason stated to be instrumental was a telephone call Vikram’s father Sanjay, former BJP MP, had made to Pawar, urging him to clear the path for his son. Although from the rival faction, Pawar graciously gave a nod. Sanjay, it is learnt, had obliged Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party nearly 15 years ago in a local election. As Pawar is blessed with an elephant’s memory, he paid back the obligation by ensuring Vikram’s election unopposed. But there is one more connection with the Pawar family and this election. Vikram had ‘advanced’ Rs.10 crore to Parth Pawar, son of deceased deputy CM Ajit Pawar and Sunetra Pawar, who is occupying the deputy CM’s post now. Vikram has clarified that the payment was against the purchase of a plot of land, which was in the name of Ajit Pawar. In faraway Vidarbha, the BJP’s candidate Arun Lakhani was elected unopposed to the upper house since Maha Vikas Aghadi failed to challenge him. A successful businessman and an ardent RSS worker, Lakhani’s son is slated to marry NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule’s daughter. The would-be couple and their parents recently called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to formally invite him for the wedding, the date for which is yet to be announced. While political party workers keep fighting on roads, no such bitter sentiment is seen in the upper echelons.
So far, Vedanta’s operations in Odisha remain completely unaffected by recent ongoing investigations, scrutiny with regard to FEMA probe, ED raid, search operations on the group’s founder Anil Agarwal after his conflict with Adani over the Jaypee deal. The Odisha state government in dealing with Anil Agarwal has kept its slate clear with regard to Vedanta’s local violations. Vedanta, it may be recalled, was penalized Rs 233.11 crore and Rs 71.16 crore for illegal water extraction and unauthorised hazardous fly ash dumping in Odisha state. Political observers say, “At the moment, Odisha government’s singular focus is ensuring Vedanta’s timely project completion of the project amidst continuous tribal complaints for encroaching on forest reserves. It may be recalled that Vedanta Group did throw a hat in the ring to acquire the debt-ridden Jaiprakash Associates. But the lenders ultimately favoured a lower bid from Adani Enterprises. Anil Agarwal tweeted about this development. This is why political analysts interpret the recent FEMA and ED probe as a veiled warning to Anil Agarwal not to cross swords with Adani Group. Vedanta Group is a global natural resources and technology conglomerate. Over the last four decades, founder-chairman Anil Agarwal transformed a small, failing scrap-metal business into one of the world’s leading diversified mining, metals, and hydrocarbons corporations.
Maharashtra’s ongoing scrutiny of beneficiaries under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana (CM’s My Favorite Sister Scheme) reportedly identified nearly 80 lakh ineligible women who enjoyed monthly assistance of Rs 1,500 since the scheme’s launch in 2024. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ruled out recovering payouts already made to them. The government’s lenient approach towards women beneficiaries, however, will not extend to the 14,000 men who allegedly secured benefits under the women-centric welfare scheme through fraudulent declarations. Officials involved in the verification exercise indicated that these beneficiaries would face recovery proceedings and could also be exposed to criminal action. At Rs 1,500 per month, the payments made to the male beneficiaries are estimated at Rs 50 crore. Preliminary findings suggest that several applications contained discrepancies in Aadhaar-linked records, while some beneficiaries were identified as ‘male’ during KYC verification despite having submitted details portraying themselves as eligible women. The scrutiny process also reportedly uncovered over five lakh women government employees who availed the benefit despite their annual incomes exceeding the scheme’s eligibility threshold of Rs 2.5 lakh. A senior official associated with the verification drive recalled that in an earlier instance, an individual was jailed for submitting multiple applications and claiming financial assistance under government schemes despite being ineligible. Similar recommendations for recovery and punitive action are expected in cases involving deliberate misrepresentation by men. Political observers believe the decision not to recover funds from the 80 lakh ineligible women reflects both economic and electoral considerations. With rural Maharashtra continuing to experience financial stress, the government appears reluctant to reclaim benefits already disbursed, including non-deserving women, a move that...
In Odisha a newer kind of political battle is brewing between Naveen Patnaik’s BJD and former members of his party over Biju Patnaik’s death anniversary celebration. The sidelined turncoat ex-BJD leaders like Bijoy Mohapatra (known as super chief minister, founder BJD), Dilip Ray (former Union Minister and BJD founder), independent Rajya Sabha MP Prabhat Tripathy, former BJD MLA, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, former BJD MP, Prasanna Patasani have come together and formed a new platform called ‘Odisha Nagarik Manch’(ONM). Their objective seems to be focussed on appropriating Biju Patnaik’s legacy taking their position as “original Biju followers” but they qualify it saying “ONM as of now is a non-political platform”. Political commentators say this political experiment coming from Bijoy Mohapatra, Dilip Ray and others could gather steam if this new group could prevail upon BJP high command to confer Bharat Ratna to the late Biju Patnaik. Otherwise, the general public say it’s an academic exercise at best because the Biju era politicians like Bijoy Mohapatra, Djlip Ray who are seen as the original mastermind face the challenge of proving their relevance to the new generation.
Trouble for the BJP-led Odisha government headed by Mohan Charan Majhi, in power for close to 21 months, never seems to be ending. The latest is the Opposition’s vociferous demand for the resignation of the state health minister over the death toll in the fire at SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack which rose to 13. Ten Opposition parties – Congress, BJD, CPI (M), All India Forward Block, NCP, RJD — and other regional outfits have come together in a rare display of unity against ruling BJP. Massive protest has been organised demanding resignation of Health Minister Nukesh Mahaling. The Majhi government has rejected the resignation demand of the health minister, even as it suspended four of its officials. Naveen Patnaik’s party, the BJD in alliance with the Congress, has made it clear that the protest and agitation are not being withdrawn until the health minister resigns on moral ground. Supporting its argument, BJD sighted the case of its Health Minister Atanu S Nayak who resigned over a similar tragedy in 2016 when BJD was in power. The BJP has turned the tables on BJD saying that because of lapses during their rule, of not making fire safety arrangements during their 24 years rule, the current accident took place.
Amidst West Asia war crises and disruptions in energy supply and emerging geopolitical risks, the BJP-led government in Odisha is now making international headlines. After steel and mining prowess, the Odisha government is seriously contemplating to set up the world’s largest underground 4 million tonne crude oil storage facility at Chandikhole, Jajpur district entailing an investment of Rs 8,743 crore. This project was conceived during Naveen Patnaik times. But, it remained only on paper…gathering dust for the last seven years. The current war in West Asia has triggered of energy crises globally and this gave the current chief minister of Odisha Mohan Charan Majhi to relook at the project. The main issue now is to quickly allot 400 acres of land to Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd. It is learnt that the BJP’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan nudged both the Odisha CM and Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to fast track the strategic underground crude oil storage facility terming it as a national project which has been delayed for 7 years because of land issue and bureaucratic delays. Sources say 286 acres are now being processed while the remaining land may take another two months. Only when the entire 400 acres of land parcel is handed over to ISPRL will the project take off?
Ahead of the March 16 Rajya Sabha poll, a complex tug-of-war situation is now brewing in Odisha between BJD-Congress and BJP. Parties are now guarding against possible poaching scenario ahead of Rajya Sabha polls. Already, Congress has shifted nine of its 14 MLAs to Bengaluru and BJD’s Naveen Patnaik has lined up daily meetings with his legislators to guard against possible horse trading. There are five competing candidates spread between BJD-Congress and BJP who are now competing for four Rajya Sabha seats. What seems clear is the growing prospect of cross voting, absenteeism or intentional rejection of votes scenario. This essentially means smooth sailing for Manmohon Samal (BJP), Sujeet Kumar (BJP), the outgoing MP who is now opting for another term and Dr Santrupt Misra (BJD). However, Congress-BJD supported candidate Dr Datteswar Hota seems to be in a tricky situation. He could be facing possible cross-voting and absenteeism scenario. This scenario could make Dilip Ray(Independent) ex-Union Minister win the Rajya sabha seat backed by BJP’s 79 MLA’s including three independents. Most agree that BJP will have 23 surplus first preference votes for Dilip Ray ensuring he sails in smoothly amidst fluid political situation.
Odisha politics is now witnessing a rare twist with BJD joining hands with Congress, CPI(M) to block BJP in forthcoming Rajya Sabha polls. Political observers say the chess board for the forthcoming Odisha Rajya Sabha election battle is almost getting ready. Sources say, this week’s joint appearance of BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik with Congress and CPI(M) leaders, signals a potential shift in BJD and Odisha’s political alignment beyond forthcoming Rajya Sabha polls. The speculation so far is BJP’s Odisha state President Manmohon Samal will make it to Rajya Sabha and so too BJP’s sitting Rajya Sabha MP Surjeet Kumar. Similarly, BJD’s Santrupt Misra who has declared Rs 595 crore assets is also expected to have a smooth sailing. The fight between BJD-Congress candidate Dr Datteswar Hota against Dilip Ray a hotelier turned politician is getting intense. Ray had earlier worked under three Prime Ministers including handling the portfolio of Union Minister of Steel, Coal & Parliamentary Affairs. Expressing confidence, Dilip Ray said he expects to win the contest despite not having the required magic number of 30 first-preference votes in his favour. The election is on March 16 and the results will be declared the same day.
With four Odisha Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant, political buzz in Odisha has intensified. BJD and BJP are now locked in a tough fight ahead with heavy lobbying for the four Rajya Sabha seats. The main issue is which party will win how many seats and which candidates will be Naveen Patnaik’s final choice as nominations are slated to be closing on March 5,2026 and March 16 being the deadline for Rajya Sabha voting results. BJD leadership is expected to make a decision on their official nominee for the 2026 election. According to a political analyst, BJP is likely to win two seats and BJD one seat, while none of the parties have the numbers to secure the fourth seat as yet. For the fourth Rajya Sabha seat, speculation is rife that both BJD and BJP may go in for consensus candidate — an eminent Odia personality. Sources say that former corporate honcho turned BJD politician Santrupt Mishra believed to be close to Naveen babu could be one of the dark horses. His suave corporate personality, excellent communication skill and being a team player could inspire confidence with BJD supremo to give him a ticket. The only problem he faces is that some BJD leaders are now pushing for time tested experienced BJD leaders for Naveen’s consideration, putting a road block for inexperienced newcomers. The other name doing the rounds is that of Sujata R Karthikeyan, ex-IAS, former Mission Shakti Chief of BJD’s powerful women wing and wife of Patnaik’s man Friday VK Pandian. This is because Patnaik trusts the Pandians totally. All in all, the political situation is fluid today. For the fourth seat both BJP and BJD will need to come to an understanding as Congress has only 14 MLAs.
Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi courts seems to have landed in a bit of a controversy over his decision to opt for an official Type 7 VIP bungalow in Delhi’s posh 2 Teen Murti locality – close to the residence of the Union Cabinet Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Majhi is the first CM from Odisha to opt for a luxury type of residence in Delhi. Earlier, Odisha CMs while visiting the Capital stayed either at Odisha Bhawan (now officially closed for redevelopment) or stayed at the central government accommodation or at designated hotels. Majhi’s VIP culture has set tongues wagging. BJD, the Opposition party led by Naveen Patnaik, has taken a potshot at Majhi’s VIP culture and questioned the need for a luxurious bungalow in Delhi even though it has been officially allotted to him. The general ask is: why is Majhi who comes from a humble tribal background fostering VIP culture? And many say this is a wasteful expenditure since CM Majhi is not staying in Delhi permanently. Questions are also being asked about the security cost — 30 Odisha police platoons along with bullet proof vehicles have been deployed to look after CM’s security. By opting to have a permanent resident close to Dharmendra Pradhan’s house, political commentators now ask is it a preparatory signal for the next election?
Biju Janata Dal chief, former chief minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik has decided to forgo the recent salary hike and allowances passed in the Odisha Legislative Assembly. In a letter to the chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi, he would like to “forgo the salary and allowances hiked for Leader of Opposition and utilise the same for the welfare of poor people of Odisha. He said he is indebted to the people of Odisha and their love towards him and his late father Biju Patnaik. It may be mentioned that in 2015 Patnaik and his family decided to donate their ancestral property Anand Bhavan in Cuttack for the people of Odisha. The Odisha Legislative Assembly increased the monthly salary of its members more than three times — from Rs 1.11 lakh to Rs 3.45 lakh, one of the highest in the country. It is understood that the salary of the chief minister, ministers, speaker, deputy speaker, the LoP and the pension of ex-MLAs were increased by around three times.
The buzz in Odisha for quite some time is who will step into Naveen Patnaik’s shoes, this has become stronger post Biju Janata Dal’s humiliating defeat in the recently held bypoll election. It slipped to the third position while Congress moved to the 2nd position with BJP winning by huge margin. Political observers say “BJD seems to be in the worst moment”. Already, prominent and senior BJD leaders like Mamta Mahanta MP, Sujit Kumar, Rajya Sabha and ex-MP strategist Amar Patnaik have quit BJD sometime back joining BJP. Fresh rumours are that more BJD members could join BJP if discontent within BJD’s rank and file grows further. Given Naveen Babu’s advancing age (79) plus health complications resulting in him not being able to walk without assistance, have convinced his party workers that he should not be looking after the day-to-day running of his party. So, who could take over the party’s mantle? Sources say Sujata R Karthikeyan, ex-IAS, former Mission Shakti Chief of BJD’s powerful women wing and wife of Patnaik’s man Friday VK Pandian could be a strong contender. This is because Patnaik trusts the Pandians totally. Sources say, Sujata’s formal entry into BJD could take place on BJD’s Foundation Day December 26 while others say Sujata could be nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Only time will tell.
The BJP government in Odisha led by Mohan Charan Majhi won the prestigious Nuapada bypoll. Its candidate Jay Dholakia won by over a margin of 83,748 votes polling 123,869 votes while Congress candidate Ghasiram Majhi polled 40,121 votes and BJD’s Snehangini Chhuria 38,408 votes. BJD was relegated to the third position in spite of the fact Naveen Patnaik was personally campaigning. Shockingly, BJD’s vote share crashed to 18.8 % from 40.22% in 2024 when it won the assembly seat. Patnaik’s party BJD which dominated Odisha politics for over 24 years seems to be losing its hold. Political commentators say “Brand BJD has been eroded”. This clearly indicates that the BJP in Odisha is controlling the political narrative. One of the reasons for BJD’s downhill run is attributed to Naveen babu’s frail health, no succession planning thereby leading to infighting. This scenario led to some of the veteran BJD leaders crossing over to BJP. Political watchers say, BJD’s future cannot rest on Patnaik’s shoulder alone. This means BJD must resolve its leadership issues, inner-party contradictions and address the vacuum in its current leadership style.
The Rs 1000-crore Sub Inspector Recruitment Scam in Odisha seems to have put the former chief minister Naveen Patnaik and his party, Biju Janata Dal on the backfoot. The mastermind Shankar Prusty (32), who is the leader of a syndicate involved in leaking the SI recruitment question papers, has been arrested by the Odisha state crime branch near Nepal border. Brought back to Bhubaneswar he is singing like a canary. According to him “this scam is worth at least Rs 1,000 crore” So far, BJD has denied any connection with this scam. However, the BJP terms BJD’s denial saying “chor machaye shor”. BJP says the contract for the recruitment process was signed during Patnaik’s tenure. But, the general public is asking what prevented BJP which was making big changes in the state to deep dive into Sub-Inspector recruitment issues and procedures immediately when they came to power? So far, the initial investigation report however says the scamsters collected original certificates and blank cheques from aspirants in exchange of leaked papers, wherein the aspirants were charged Rs 20-25 lakh per candidate. The main accused Prusty has been interrogated in the presence of Munna Mohanty, his close associate to unravel the truth. Sources say both Mohanty and Prusty had reportedly amassed significant assets through recruitment scam. The SI scam gained further momentum after the arrest of Odisha’s Silicon Tech owner Suresh Chandra Nayak.
All eyes are on Odisha’s high voltage triangular seat contest for the Nuapada Assembly bypoll to be held on November 11. The ruling BJP and opposition BJD, Congress have made this bypoll a prestigious issue. If BJP loses then there will be a question mark on the popularity of Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s leadership. If Naveen Patnaik’s BJD loses it would indicate Patnaik’s popularity as the Leader of Opposition is waning. Even though Patnaik would like his party to win this one, he has not gone whole hog for the fear of inviting BJP’s wrath vis a vis launching probe into financials of his BJD. It is learnt that Patnaik is opting for soft strategy, basically, eyeing the 12% SC votes and deliberately not playing the tribal card and opting to play SC card instead by fielding heavy weight Snehangini Chhuria. Congress on its part is now playing up the tribal card and is hoping to win this seat. Now all eyes on the November 11 outcome.
All eyes are on BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik as to how he will manage serious internal party rumblings and keep the party united? This is because a few of the top leaders have started deserting the party. First salvo was fired following BJD’s shocking performance in 2024 elections – Lok Sabha and Assembly — wherein two Rajya Sabha MPs Mamata Mohanta and Sujeet Kumar resigned from the party. But their exit did not create ripples compared to the recent resignation of two BJD senior leaders N Bhaskar Rao and Lal Bihari Himrika who are known to have strong grassroot connections. What raised the eyebrows in political circles is that BJD’s ex-mines minister and four times MLA Prafulla Mallik’s resignation threats over dissatisfaction with BJD leadership. The party high command suspended him for anti-party activities and labelled him an opportunistic politician. According to Mallik, BJD has failed to function effectively as the main opposition party in the state. The general feeling is Patnaik cannot take on the might of PM Modi because of his health issue and nip the rumblings within the party. The future of BJD seems uncertain with no clear leadership to lead the party. It is learnt that splinter group is now considering changing BJD’s party name and springing a new regional political outfit. Political observers commenting on this situation say “political Tsunami” is building up in Odisha and it’s music to the ears for the BJP.
Naveen Patnaik headed Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is in a sticky situation. Being the principal opposition party in Odisha, all eyes are on BJD’s position vis a vis Vice-President election on September 9. The Congress is rooting for INDIA Bloc candidate B Sudershan Reddy. The question is who will BJD Supremo Patnaik support? NDA or INDIA Bloc… Once upon a time it would have been NDA because of his close proximity and respect for PM Modi. It was mutual. But post 2024 polls where BJP turfed out BJD, the scenario has changed. Political observers say BJD’s decision has consequences over V-P poll. Should he go with the INDIA Bloc then he is openly challenging PM Modi. That does not augur well for a party whose future is hanging in balance because of succession issue. His man Friday VK Pandian who went under the radar for more than a year is now openly seen with Patnaik. He was holding his mentor’s hand and leading him out of the hospital. An speculations are rife that Pandian could well take over the reins of the party. What goes against him, he is an outsider –Tamilian from Tamil Nadu. If Naveen goes by Pandian’s advise chances are BJD will back NDA candidate. In the end the options before Patnaik is: One, abstain from voting , two, side with Congress instead, three, go for conscience voting like last time which divided BJD party members, four , support NDA’s choice.
Odisha’s ambitious metro rail project — Bhubaneswar Metro Rail — has failed to take off. The project launched on January 1,2024 with much fanfare by the then BJD chief minister Naveen Patnaik is still at the drawing board stage. The latest news is that the BJP-run Odisha government has officially scrapped the previous tender and contract awarded to Ceigall India and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for the design and construction of Bhubaneswar Metro project due to protracted delays and coordination setbacks. This move throws the project’s immediate future into uncertainty, even as the Odisha government asserts its commitment to revive the ambitious urban transport initiative with a revised blueprint. Ceigall India has indicated plans to pursue compensation legally for the contract termination. It is learnt that the Odisha government has now questioned the viability of the then BJD government’s fully state-funded project stating that currently no official proposal had been sent to by the state to the Centre. A Detailed Project Report submitted by the BJD government indicated the metro project would be financed internally. Political analysts are asking why Mohan Charan Majhi government did not pursue the financing issue with the Centre since it had one year’s time. State’s housing & urban development minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra clarified that his government will submit a revised plan to the Centre with a request for central assistance.
Manmohon Samal has been re-elected as Odisha BJP president for the fourth time. And this did not surprise anyone, neither the ruling BJP nor the Opposition BJD and Congress leaders. Samal’s win uncontested also means a setback for the Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan. His nominee Golak Mohapatra VP Odisha BJP wanted to enter the fray but it seems the high command was not keen. His claim to fame is that the Odisha BJP under Samal’s leadership not only wiped out the Biju Janata Dal from the Lok Sabha map of Odisha but in the process brought to end the long reign of Naveen Patnaik’s government, an outcome few had imagined possible. Unfortunately, Samal lost the last election to BJD and this explains why BJP’s central high command has now reposed confidence on his leadership style once again, bringing him back to action mode after one-year gap. Samal’s job is well defined. He has to build BJP cadres at 30 district level, train them and make them acceptable to the people which is somewhat weak today, compared to BJD’s Naveen Patnaik whom an average Odites loves, supports and admires. Hailing from the OBC community, which constitutes a significant portion of Odisha’s population, Samal’s reappointment is now seen as a strategic move to further consolidate the party’s base in Odisha given Samal’s strong organizational skills and grassroots connect.
When news of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra (50) tying the knot with Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and former MP Pinaki Mishra(65) in Germany was first announced in a Kolkata newspaper, mind you nearly a month after their marriage (on May 3), it was clear that the couple had officially wanted the world to know about it. A day later Mahua shared a picture of Pinaki and her cutting a cake on her X handle. Interestingly, the post was shared on TMC handle by party leader Abhishek Banerjee even as he was abroad on Operation Sindoor delegation. Looks like the news leak was timed with the private party that the couple threw for their friends in Delhi this week. Interestingly, what is worrying BJD leaders from Odisha is the manner in which Pinaki, who was a 4-term Lok Sabha MP from Puri and had been BJD Parliamentary Party leader, was being sidelined by the Bengal media. How can Kolkata media be so dismissive of the high networth BJD veteran with a poser like “who is Pinaki Misra?” BJD sources even wondered why Pinaki was getting bad press. While it may be true that Naveen Patnaik had denied Pinaki the Lok Sabha ticket in 2024 polls from Puri as his victory margin had been steadily declining, BJD sources felt it would be unfair to be dismissive of the Supreme Court lawyer. Party sources pointed out that Pinaki belonged to an eminent family of jurists — at least two from his family — Dr Ranganath Misra and his cousin Justice Dipak Misra went on to be CJI. His first wife, Sangeeta is a legal professional and hails from Maharashtra; they have two children.
Adivasis land has always been a bone of contention. The story in Odisha is no different. Naveen Patnaik, when he was the chief minister, tried to amend tribal reservation land law but gave up due to massive opposition from Adivasis. Now, the BJP-run government headed by Mohan Charan Majhi is treading a similar path. BJP’s revenue minister Suresh Pujari under the familiar tag “protecting Adivasis land” has launched a new initiative. According to Pujari in order to secure adivasis land, the state government will buy it and hold it for 3 years. If the tribal farmers are not able to buy back in three years’ time then the government will auction it. His objective is to ensure that tribals don’t get cheated. Political observers say this idea is a familiar debt trap story. Seldom have these tribals been able to buy back their land once it is sold to conduct a marriage or other emergencies. They say the state government will capitalise the situation by auctioning such lands at a premium to business houses and others who are desperate to acquire lands in mineral rich districts for their projects. The general feeling is that the whole process has to be transparent and before embarking this initiative it would do well for the government to frame the rules under the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act or PESA Act. It is learnt that the Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati has expressed concern over the delay in framing rules.
The familiar image of Mohan Charan Majhi being an honest simple tribal chief minister of Odisha does not fly any more. His performance scorecard is slipping and he has a lot of catching up to do in respect of promise versus performance. Sources say he is missing in the areas of swift action covering many disciplines namely, revenue earnings, central grants, addressing local inflation concerns, commanding leadership, quick deliverance and service to the people as yet.. Majhi, it is learnt, has realised his shortcomings. This explains why he has warned government officers to shape up or face dismissal recently. Political commentator Ruben Banerjee says Majhi is under pressure to deliver results. According to Banerjee, during Naveen Patnaik’s BJD regime the Odisha government’s tax collection had increased by over 16.91% in 2024-25 but under BJP rule it has increased by only 3.65%. In respect to minerals and mines revenue, BJD had increased it by 29.37% in 2023-2024 but this year 2024-25 under Majhi government the revenue is down by -3.66%. There is a perception that the Odisha government earns a decent sum via mining activities but it does not seem currently. During BJD’s rule in 2023-24 it had increased by 19.67% but under BJP in 2024-25 it is minus -9.69 %. Likewise, revenue collection from iron ore mines has also dropped.
Odisha government’s profit-making Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) at Bhubaneswar is likely to be privatised. The process to privatise the airport, set up in 1962 which handles 4.2 million passengers annually has already started by the Airport Authority of India. Already the names of Adani, GMR and Zurich Airport Ltd are doing the rounds. But the general thinking is that the Union government may not be particularly inclined towards Adani to avoid a monopoly situation in the country. The tilt is towards Zurich Airport known for its world class management and security controls which is now constructing the new International Airport in Noida near Delhi. There is a strong feeling that Naveen Patnaik’s party, Biju Janata Dal, may oppose the privatisation move. It is understood that whoever wins the bid has to factor in absorbing 60% manpower cost or continue paying salaries till employees’ retirement age. With BPIA being privatised what happens to Puri’s ambitious international airport project backed by the Odisha government? That’s a big question mark as AAI is now fully focussed on how to utilise BPIA’s existing airport space which is not yet fully tapped.
With less than a month left for Mohan Charan Majhi government’s first anniversary on June 12, a mindless controversy has been created with regard to the Odisha chief minister’s recent visit to Mumbai for an investment meeting and his five-day stay at a 5-star hotel located in Nariman Point. This has set the tongue wagging whether a party like BJP has let go its principle of being judicious in cost and expenses. Veteran journalist Ruben Banerjee who closely follows Odisha politics brought this out and said the former CM Naveen Patnaik during his first 15 years’ governance created a positive impression by avoiding 5-star culture. But BJP sources say what about Patnaik’s party which splurged tax-payers money to allow Patnaik’s man Friday VK Pandian to use helicopters extensively to tour the state! The state government sources say the presidential suites in The Oberoi weren’t used for Majhi’s personal leisure. The CM was just matching the level of diplomacy and stature expected while interacting with industry leaders and CEOs. They say Banerjee has misinterpreted this as personal luxury which is misleading. Satyapatha, Odisha’s popular news channel editor said this is judgemental politics by Ruben Banerjee. He is close to Patnaik as he has written a book on him. Is this issue being raised because CM Majhi hails from a poor Adivasi family? As one BJP leader aptly put it, “Judge CM Majhi on what investments he bags, not where he stays.” Quite.
On June 14, Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi will be completing a one-year term in the office. Has the CM who has the backing of the PM delivered? There are mixed reports from the ground. Some are saying that Odia people are fed up with lip service of the Majhi government – the same line “work in progress and grandiose investment plans”. The general feeling is that Majhi has simply tweaked close to two dozen schemes of the BJD government led by Naveen Patnaik. It is a cut and paste job without any value addition –BJD’s colour green has been changed to BJP’s saffron in government buildings and buses. But a clued-in analyst has a different take. He points out that Majhi is considered “accessible CM” in a stark contrast to BJD’s chief minister Naveen Patnaik with whom ordinary people had no access. Besides, it would be inappropriate to compare the two CMs performances — one with 8 months governance record and the other with 290-month dream run. Adding further he says, BJD failed to fulfil their promise of giving bonus of Rs 100 per quintal to poverty-stricken farmers om Western Odisha’s Sohela in Bargarh district. Here, the Majhi government took a decision in just 24 minutes in its cabinet meeting to provide Rs 800 per quintal input assistance to farmers, apart from providing annual financial assistance of Rs 10,000 to around one crore women in the state. But the general lament is that Odia people voted for BJP, so that it effectively weeds out “mafia raj” and “percentage raj” but nothing substantial has happened in this direction. Meanwhile, the BJD has not lost the opportunity to brand Majhi as a “copycat” government.
No surprises here in this election but it did create a record. For the 9th consecutive time Naveen Patnaik was re-elected as the President of Biju Janata Dal. So, will he herald a change in governance style considering that the party got a severe drubbing both in the 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections? It is public knowledge that there is a murmur of protests, growing factionalism especially at the district level. The challenge is how to ensure the party regains its pristine glory? Is it possible? Yes and no. The immediate task is to resolve the factionalism at the district level including certain select senior levels. This issue assumes importance because as of now there is no clarity who will serve as BJD’s District Presidents. Sources within the party opine that the state executive committee of BJD will now pave the way to restructure the party’s from the grassroot level which will include women, students and youth. Patnaik will need to pick future leaders to lead the party in all districts. The need of the hour is to manage the internal dynamics of the party wherein communication cascading and party discipline will play an important role. All in all, what seems apparent is Patnaik’s man Friday VK Pandian who has been under the radar is back in the play. He continues to serve Naveen babu in a personal capacity and looks after his master’s health needs. Pandian continues to play albeit a significant role in advisory capacity to Patnaik but ensuring no direct intervention with the party bigwigs.
In Odisha, ever since the BJP turfed out Naveen Patnaik’s well entrenched Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in both the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the relationship between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become frosty. Since then the former CM has been opposing the Modi government tooth and nail on various issues at both the Centre and State. The latest one is Waqf Bill. In the Rajya Sabha it supported it. This brought to fore the internal dissensions within the party or whether Patnaik had a change of heart towards BJP. Reportedly, BJD’s floor leader in Rajya Sabha Sasmit Patra, a Christian, along with four BJD members voted in favour of Waqf Bill while BJD’s two Muslim MP’s Muzibulla Khan, and Munna Khan opposed the Bill in Rajya Sabha. Senior party leaders are saying that BJD has traditionally led an equidistant policy. BJD leaders are now demanding immediate probe as to who took this decision to vote for Waqf Bill and if this had Naveen Patnaik’s formal approval. Patra had tweeted that there would be no party whip and members should vote “exercising their conscience”. BJD leader Badri Prasad is wondering if someone else has played a game, clearly hinting if Patra has taken this decision on his own or at the behest of Patnaik’s right hand VK Pandian. BJD MP Debashish Samantaray who abstained from voting has launched scathing attack on Pandian as the main person playing behind the scene role. He said Patra was simply following Pandian’s orders.
Odisha’s Opposition leader Naveen Patnaik, former chief minister and head of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) seems to have got a jolt from his man Friday ex-IAS officer VK Pandian. The big news is Pandian has left Naveen Nivas vis a vis politics for good thereby putting his master in a spot. So, what made the influential Pandian leave Navin Nivas? Sources say, even though Pandian holds Naveen babu in a very high esteem but he sees no future for BJD nor for himself within the party. The power corridor in Odisha is buzzing with the news that Pandian is in talks with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a senior level position to handle some part of their India ops. If he does join, it makes eminent sense, because as a seasoned IAS officer he has considerable clout both in Delhi and Odisha. Also, Bill Gates Foundation is known to hire top notch ex-IAS talents. It may be recalled that sometimes back Bill Gates while meeting both Naveen Patnaik and VK Pandian had praised Odisha’s health initiatives, sanitation intervention, effective management of Mission Shakti and Pandian’s administrative capacity to solve issues and getting proposals cleared by respective ministries. The latest news is Pandian’s wife Sujata Karthikeyan, an IAS officer who was working as special secretary – Finance Dept in Odisha has opted for VRS. The Centre has not only accepted her resignation but also waived her notice period. Is she entering politics?
The recent arrest of Soumya Sankar Chakra, an influential Biju Janata Dal Youth Wing leader, for his alleged involvement in a multi-crore Gandhamardan mine corruption case, particularly mineral transportation fraud racket in Keonjhar district, has won applause for the Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi. It is learnt that BJD’s senior leader and former minister Badri Narayan Patra had alerted Naveen Patnaik’s office about Chakra’s involvement in the alleged scam in a confidential report just before 2024 elections. Strangely, the top leadership looked the other way. Patra alleged that Chakra ran an illegal operation in cahoot with a former Keonjhar district collector and senior police officers prior to the 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Amidst recent disruption in the Odisha assembly that saw Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahini suspended for seven days and now the arrest of BJD leader Chakra. The question everybody is asking is: “Why LoP Naveen Patnaik is missing from Odisha suddenly”. Rumour is, Naveen babu soon after meeting the DMK delegation led by DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran and TRB Rajaa suddenly left for Delhi. Sources say Patnaik was meeting unofficially top rung BJP leaders to douse the fire regarding the ongoing corruption investigation against BJD Youth leader Chakra. Sources say Naveen’s fear is if Chakra spills the beans then BJD could be in deep trouble. Everybody knows Naveen babu is very close to PM Modi, yet it is learnt that Patnaik’s Man Friday VK Pandian is possibly in Delhi helping him meet the right kind of people.
Looks like the BJP government in Odisha headed by Mohan Charan Majhi is hell bent on downplaying the legendary leader Biju Patnaik’s contributions to the state. It may be recalled that the BJP leaders were once rooting for a Bharat Ratna for Biju Patnaik as they enjoyed a good rapport with his son Naveen Patnaik, three-time chief minister of Odisha. But ever since the BJP government routed Naveen Patnaik in 2024 Assembly polls, they have changed their tune. The latest move by the Odisha government is not declaring a public holiday for Biju Jayanti on March 5. Instead, the Majhi government declared Panchayati Raj Divas celebration on April 24 as a national celebration. It may be recalled when BJD was ruling they had merged both Biju Jayanti and Panchayat Raj Divas celebration as one event declaring it as a public holiday since 1993. When BJP was in alliance with BJD they did not complain. Why, Majhi government choose to separate the two celebrations from this year? According to corridor whispers, CM Majhi wants to gradually phase out late Biju Patnaik from the public memory. Undoubtedly, he was one of the architects of modern Odisha and his son named the party – Biju Janata Dal — after him. A political source says that if the BJP wants to continue its reign in Odisha, then they must dilute the legacy and aura of Biju Patnaik. Meanwhile, BJD leader Naveen Patnaik has accused the BJP government of trying to change the name of Biju Patnaik International Airport. He has challenged the BJP by asking: Can you all erase Biju babu’s contributions like Paradip port, HAL, NTPC, OUAT, NIT-Rourkela and others?
Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi is always compared to Naveen Patnaik, the former chief minister, a tall leader who ran the state under a tight leash for 24 years and in the process has put his signature everywhere. So, at the recently concluded Utkarsh Odisha — Make in Odisha event attended by India’s industry stalwarts and foreign investors everyone was asking, will the Majhi government surpass Naveen Patnaik’s Make in Odisha record of Rs10.5 lakh crore investment in 2022? Majhi’s government seems to be in a much stronger position. As per CM, his government has received 3 times more investment than his expectations. The numbers now stand at Rs 16.73 lakh crore backed by 595 initial proposals spanning across 20 sectors. This includes chemicals, petrochemicals, textiles, mining, metallurgy, renewable energy, tourism, food processing, IT/ ITeS and others. As on date, Majhi seems to have had a good knock. However, much depends on how fast the Odisha government converts those investment intentions to firm investment plans. Government sources say this positive situation will now set the speed ball rolling in Majhi’s favour creating new investment milestones.
In Odisha, the BJP never seems to lose an opportunity to take a pot-shot or criticise the former chief minister Naveen Patnaik style of governance. Patnaik’s party, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) constantly faces BJP’s onslaught ever since it came to power. The latest accusation relates to a 16-year old case — smuggling of iron ore as a result of which the ship Black Rose sank. Reportedly, the ship was illegally carrying 23,847 MT of iron ore and sank while unloading at Paradip port, it tilted and sank. Since it was an illegal ferrying of iron ore the documents too were fake. That was September 9, 2009. This old issue was raked up after Odisha’s BJP MLA Padmalochan Panda had briefed the Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Now the Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi is expected to initiate a formal inquiry into the whole incident vis a vis expose corruption in the then BJD-run government. Even though BJP is now pushing for an in-depth inquiry but what puts BJP in odd position is that it’s present MP Bhatruhari Mahtab who was earlier ex BJD MP had gone on record stating that Black Rose ship was carrying iron ore from Haldia and was re-loading at Paradeep port when the ship tilted and sank without attributing any kind of illegalities. Though everybody knows nothing concrete is going to emerge from this inquiry, it seems BJP’s strategy is to keep embarrassing and pushing the Opposition BJD party in the hope its image will take a knock.
In Odisha, war of words is on full display between the ruling BJP and Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) headed by former chief minister Naveen Patnaik. The trigger is Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s visit to Odisha last week and publicly saying that BJD has lost its relevance… and that BJP will rule Odisha for the next 50 years. Sarma was in Odisha to inaugurate the newly built Badminton High Performance Centre at Kalinga stadium, Bhubaneswar. It seems Sarma’s accidental utterances to enthuse BJP’s rank and file has now backfired. Seasoned political watchers are saying it’s about time Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi delivers and not resort to rhetoric. The general public is asking why the BJP government has not taken any action against VK Pandian’s massive helicopter tour expenditures, chit fund and mining scams till date after shouting from rooftop during Assembly election campaign. Much to BJP’s recent embarrassment, BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain has openly challenged if BJP has the guts to open files to take actions on BJD. Viewed against this backdrop, Assam CM’s statement seems like a bravado.
Not all is quiet in the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) front, post its election defeat to BJP. Many within BJD put the blame on Naveen Patnaik for his blind faith reposed on his personal assistant VK Pandian, IAS officer from Tamil Nadu cadre. The man who was seen in every photo frame of Naveen Patnaik for over a decade now has gone off the grid post the election debacle. BJD insiders say though Pandian seems largely out of sight but he is not out of the picture. He continues to be Naveen babu’s eyes and ears and stealthily visits Naveen Nivas regularly. On his part, the former Odisha chief minister publicly acknowledged that “Pandian had served the state and party with utmost dedication, efficiency and integrity”. Sources say Pandian is like the late RK Dhawan, Indira Gandhi’s personal secretary, who knows too much and that perhaps explains why Patnaik continues to support him. Not surprisingly, his influence continued and led to more disgruntlement, dissensions and desertion within BJD. BJD’s former five time MP Prasanna Kumar Patasani who joined BJP says BJD has become a divided house because Pandian continues to guide BJD as he has Naveen babu’s protection. Patasani alleges that Pandian advised him not to raise the issue of conferring Bharat Ratna to Naveen’s father late Biju Patnaik in the Parliament earlier. Amidst all this finger pointing exercise many from BJD are crossing over to BJP.
Ever since he lost power in the Odisha assembly elections in 2024, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo Naveen Patnaik, age notwithstanding, has moved in aggressive mode to put BJP on the back foot. The general feeling was that BJD has lost steam and may implode over a period. BJP MLA Sanatan Bijuli openly says that “there will be no need to break BJD, it will disintegrate automatically.” Echoing Bijuli’s statement, Odisha BJP President Manmohan Samal says there are many BJD leaders waiting to join BJP. Our completion of 100 days is only a trailer. The movie is ahead. To boost confidence in his party and cadres, the former chief minister Patnaik has been extensively touring the state to strengthen the party. In the last two months he has already toured 30 districts to work out future road maps district-wise. For Patnaik, attacking BJP is the best form of defence. At the BJD’s annual Jansampark Padyatra which commenced from October 2 onward at Bhubaneswar, Naveen Patnaik taunted BJP not fulfilling its election promises. He listed several of them one by one. He asked BJP why households have not received Rs 300 units free electricity, asked the status of Rs 3,000 allowances towards SSS scheme, where is the Rs 50,000 cash voucher for every woman under the Subhadra Yojana scheme. Naveen summarised these lapses as a wakeup call for people of Odisha. Seasoned politicians say Naveen’s aggressive combat strategy towards BJP is to neutralise the negative effect of his Rajya Sabha MPs joining BJP.
Looks like the BJP government in Odisha is in a hurry to obliterate all things related to the previous Biju Janata Dal government headed by Naveen Patnaik. No sooner he took over as chief minister, BJP’s Mohan Charan Majhi renamed Naveen Patnaik’s 40 popular schemes. Seeing no resistance to this move seems to have emboldened the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to go one step ahead by mooting the idea of renaming Odisha’s 156-year old prestigious Ravenshaw University, named after a Britisher Thomas Edward Ravenshaw who was Commissioner of Odisha in 1865. Pradhan’s idea seems to have backfired and created a major uproar across all classes of people in the state. Alumni members of Ravenshaw and Odisha’s intelligentsia have formed the Ravenshaw Heritage Forum to protest against this name change initiative. They say, there are two temples in Odisha, one is the Lord Jagannath Temple at Puri and the other one is Ravenshaw University and we will not allow name change of the university.. The BJP seems to have realised their folly and are now trying to back-peddle saying it was Pradhan’s personal opinion. Devdas Chottray, the first Vice Chancellor of Ravenshaw University said “University’s identity is related to its name representing both pre-modern and modern Odisha”. The university represents not just an institution of learning, but is an integral part of Odisha identity which produced eminent statesman like Biju Patnaik, Harekrushna Mahtab, Pratibha Ray, poet Jayant Mohapatra, Madhusudan Das, Gopabandhu Das and others. Former Indian Ambassador to Philippines Lalduhthlana Ralte who studied in Odisha said “Nothing wrong in having a colonial past, it reminds us to be resilient”.
Controversy seems to be the middle name of VK Pandian, ex-private secretary of former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik. After a big setback to the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, Pandian had gone under the radar. But he is not lucky. BJP is hell bent on exposing his abuse, misuse and misappropriation of state machinery, public money and power. According to the BJP, Pandian has taken advantage of Patnaik’s failing health and is seeking a probe. It seems Pandian used the State helicopter services round-the-year — to visit 147 constituencies during elections. He is not entitled to such a facility going by the protocol. Former chief minister Patnaik defended his “helicopter ride” saying he had asked Pandian to visit the people at their doorsteps and understand their grievances. “There was no misuse of public money on Pandian’s helicopter ride as the state spent Rs 1-1.5 crore per month on chopper rides all through the year,” said Patnaik. But, this number contradicts with former BJD’s minister Tukuni Sahu’s figure of Rs 10-12 crore on an average spent in a year. Congress seems to have welcomed BJP’s move to investigate Pandian’s expensive tours. According to current Odisha’s Transport Minister Bibhuti Bhushan Jena as per the government rules, the Governor, Ministers, Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, MLA’s, Development Commissioner, Deputy Chairperson of State Planning Board and Chief Justice of Odisha High Court are authorised to use helicopters for official duty. This apart, CM can also give special approval to any other person on merit. Strangely, even after filing RTI, no data has been made available of the expenses incurred by Pandian on his chopper tours. There is speculation mining companies may have funded Pandian’s helicopter election tour.
The maiden budget presented by the BJP-run Odisha government recently seems to have come in for harsh criticism from the intelligentsia and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik. The general feeling is that the BJP chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi has done a cut and paste job of his predecessor Patnaik’s popular programmes. Analysts pointed out that it was a rehash of most schemes implemented by Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal; the only difference being it was rechristened. On the social media questions were asked “Is CM Majhi running a name changing government or a game changing one?”. For instance, Patnaik’s ‘Mission Shakti’ programme has been renamed as Subhadra Yojana 2024 by the BJP. Similarly, BJD’s ‘Make in Odisha’ was changed to Utkarsh Utkal, ‘Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha’ renamed Vikasit Gaon Vikasit Odisha, ‘Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana’ rechristened Gopabandhu Jana Arogya Yojana. Looks like the BJP government in Odisha liked the content of BJD’s various schemes but not its name. Not to lose an opportunity Patnaik joined by the Congress blasted the Majhi’s government saying, “There is nothing new in the budget…more than 40 BJD’s government schemes were renamed by the Majhi government”. This renaming of these many schemes cannot be a coincidence. CM Majhi stated that the budget has taken inspiration from PM Modi’s ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikash’ vision. Besides cut-and-paste job, Majhi’s budget focussed on welfare of farmers and women as it was an election promise. Besides, it also saw prudence in funding Naveen Patnaik’s Metro Railway project at Bhubaneswar.
All eyes are on the BJP government in Odisha as it presents its maiden Budget on July 25. BJP’s national president JP Nadda was on a two-day visit to review the party’s overall plan and budget allocation under the leadership of chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi. All signals indicate that BJP will bite the welfare bullet albeit with pragmatism. BJP’s immediate objective is simple. It wants to meet the aspirations of the people and keep its poll promises. It is understood that Odisha budget outlay for 2024-2025 is likely to be around Rs 3 lakh crore — an increase of around Rs 40,000-50,000 crore over BJD’s earlier budget, say sources. To push welfarism, Majhi’s government has already made provision in the budget. Majhi plans to increase MSP of paddy to Rs 3,100 per quintal to meet its Samrudhi Krushak Yojana plan. To empower women, BJP had promised to pay Rs 50,000 per woman through its ambitious Subhadra Yojana Scheme which will be launched some time in September to coincide with the PM’s birthday. Sources say to cover 2 crore women beneficiaries the state government would require a budget provision of Rs 80,000 crore and it is expecting help from the Centre to partially fund this scheme. It will implement Ayushman Bharat Arogya Yojana as well as replace BJD’s KALIA cash incentive scheme. However, BJP sees wisdom in Naveen Patnaik’s Aahar scheme, the subsidised cooked meal scheme of rice and dal in 2015 to provide meals at Rs 5. This will be continued. However, BJP’s Urban Development Minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra hinted that the KALIA scheme will be renamed. Like all other BJP ruled states, the party is saying cheers to welfarism in Odisha too.
With Odisha Legislative Assembly’s budget session set to begin on July 22, the big news is Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo Naveen Patnaik is now bracing up to an “aggressive face off” to contain BJP. BJD now aims to play the role of a constructive and effective opposition leader. To achieve this the former chief minister has opted for “shadow boxing” strategy, similar to British Parliament’s Westminster style to contain BJP. Naveen babu has asked 50 of its MLA’s to solely focus on BJP’s strategy, policy and functioning henceforth. Effectively, it’s a two-pronged strategy. One, to empower BJD MLA’s in advance , so that they can intervene effectively during the forthcoming Assembly session on issues being neglected by BJP’s government headed by Mohan Charan Majhi. Two, it intends to take advantage of BJP inexperienced BJP ministers by raising a number of issues and forcing them to react. One can expect a stormy session in the Odisha Assembly henceforth. Political watchers are giving thumbs up to Patnaik’s strategy to push BJP on the back foot. But, BJP’s senior leader Samir Mohanty criticized Patnaik’s strategy as ‘absurd and superficial exercise’.
With BJP firmly in the driver’s seat in Odisha now all eyes are on the chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi to deliver the poll promise. Doubting Thomases are already asking whether he can transform Odisha, create over 3.5 lakh new jobs, attract investments in the industrial and agriculture sectors? The world will get a whiff of his roadmap when Majihi presents the state’s budget on July 24. So far, Majhi has successfully opened up the four gates of Sri Jagannath Temple besides creating a corpus fund of Rs 500 crore for safety, security and beautification of the iconic temple. Majhi’s cabinet has also decided to formulate a policy for farmers within 100 days to increase MSP of paddy to Rs 3,100 per quintal. Sources say the chief minister faces huge challenges from providing drinking water, to quality school, to filling teachers’ posts lying vacant to scant irrigation facilities. Meanwhile, the new government is already facing criticism for announcing two big ticket projects without doing feasibility studies. Well known political commentator Ruben Banerjee has questioned the viability of such projects. In the case of Subhadra Jojana (earlier Mission Shakti) the state will spend Rs 50,000 crore to cover one crore women who will get a voucher of Rs 50,000 in two years. In the case of Bhubaneswar Metro Rail project, the government plans to invest Rs 6,000 crore. And this project will run into losses, says Banerjee. He is just over a month into his new role and it is unfair to compare him with the former legendary chief minister Naveen Patnaik who ran Odisha for over two decades.
After four decades, Ratna Bhandar, the fabulous treasury of Puri’s famed Sri Jagannath Temple will be opened. It was BJP’s poll promise. According to the rules and practices, gold, silver, jewels etc offered to Sri Jagannath Mahaprabhu are to be stored in this Ratna Bhandar. This fabulous Treasury of the Jagannath Temple has been enriched by the contribution and donations offered by the devotees from all over the world. The decision to open the treasure trove has been taken by the 16-member Ratna Bhandar Committee headed by Justice Biswanath Rath. The previous Biju Janata Dal government headed by Naveen Patnaik has been dragging its feet to open Lord Jagannath’s treasure trove saying its original keys were lost. During the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections campaign, the BJP leaders including PM Narendra Modi had made Ratna Bhandar inventory and missing keys a major poll issue. The Ratna Bhandar committee has prepared a draft SOP of how the inspection of the inventory will be conducted. A source from the committee said that “The audit process will be detailed and lengthy” since it was last audited in 1978 when Janata Party’s Nilamani Routroy was Odisha CM. The auditing of Ratna Bhandar will not clash with normal darshan of the devotees. Experts have been roped in to classify the jewellery and give its valuation. And this report will be made public as per BJP’s poll promise.
In the earlier regime, the mindless interference by Naveen Patnaik’s private secretary VK Pandian upset not only the bureaucrats but even politicians across the party lines. Putting an end to that unilateral style of management the new BJP government in Odisha headed by Mohan Charan Majhi is ensuring a high degree of professionalism. For starters it has started making changes at the top by appointing Manoj Ahuja, a 1990 batch Odisha cadre IAS officer, as the Chief Secretary. Sources say that Ahuja has been selected because leadership at the highest level have reposed faith in him for his administrative acumen and rich experience across the departments. He was the former Secretary of the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Secretary of Steel & Mines, Food, Supplies & Consumer Welfare and Commissioner of Commercial taxes. All these experiences will help him to fast track numerous administrative issues, and ensure that the common man can feel the difference. It may be recalled that the PM in his election campaign has promised to make Odisha No 1 state and Ahuja needs to ensure the entire bureaucracy is in sync to work towards that goal. Now, with absolute majority, BJP cannot pin blame on BJD. Ahuja will retire on December 31, 2024 and there are strong indications that he, like the former two secretaries, will get an extension.
The big defeat of Biju Janata Dal both in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections has not put BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik on the back foot. On the contrary, there is now a new spring in his stride and he has decided to take the BJP head on both in his state and at the Centre. With his party losing all the Lok Sabha seats, Patnaik has asked his party’s nine Rajya Sabha MPs to work in a cohesive fashion and strongly raise Odisha issues in the Rajya Sabha. The most important issue for Naveen babu is the long-standing demand for Special Category status for Odisha as it is prone to natural disasters. BJD leader in Rajya Sabha Sasmit Patra said, “The BJD MPs this time will not be confined to speaking on issues only, but are determined to agitate if the BJP-led government at the Centre ignores Odisha’s interest”. BJD MPs will also raise the issues of poor mobile connectivity and low density of bank branches in the state, speedy completion of National and Coastal Highway projects, demand for revision of coal royalty which has been ignored by the Centre for the last 10 years. BJD seems to have a long laundry list: AIIMS in Sambalpur, Koraput and Balasore; IT parks, semiconductor, textile parks; 20 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana; Kendriya Vidyalayas in each block of Odisha; Eklavya schools in every scheduled (tribal) block.
With the BJP government firmly in place in Odisha, the key question in everybody’s mind: “Is it the end of Biju Janata Dal”? “Not really…the political drama has just begun,” says a clued-in political analyst from Utkal University. Yes, BJD’s supremo Naveen Patnaik is not giving up the fight. Patnaik is aiming to be a formidable opposition force to BJP. He wants to stay relevant and aims to bounce back at the right time. Immediate plan of action is to keep the party united, regroup rank and file and prepare strategies for the future. Observers say, this makes sense as Naveen is still loved by four-crore plus Odias. He is likely to take over as leader of opposition in the Odisha Assembly. Rumours are BJD MLA Prasanna Acharya is now batting to be Naveen’s deputy in the Assembly. Naveen babu’s future success will depend on four factors, one, what “mantra ” he has which will enable him to keep his numbers intact, two, having ears to the ground addressing rank and file concerns, three, quickly creating second rung leaders and four grooming a successor. After being in power for over two decades, Naveen babu for the first time is an opposition leader. So how he converts this into a political opportunity will have to be seen. Right now he is playing cards close to his chest.
On hindsight it may seem it was perhaps only well that BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik did not encourage his senior party MP Bhartruhari Mahtab from Cuttack who was well versed with Lok Sabha proceedings to become Deputy Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha. The buzz now is the Odisha MP who switched to the BJP and is a 7-term MP could be the BJP’s choice for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker. Mahtab, son of former Odisha chief minister Hare Krushna Mahtab, has the experience, temperament and intellectual gravitas needed for the job. Mahtabh, who is among the 19 BJP MPs who won, had defeated corporate honcho Santrupt Misra, who had declared assets worth Rs 450 crore. Asked to comment on his electoral battle, Mahtab likened it to the electoral battle fought between late BJP leader Ananth Kumar and Infosys founder Nandan Nilekani in 2014 in Bangalore South (Lok Sabha) seat. “Corporate people come with different ideas,” he pointed out. His victory against huge money was a clear indication of the Modi wave in Odisha. But then Nilekani, the techie who gave us Aadhar, had lost the polls in 2014 also because of the first Modi wave that year.
Biju Janata Dal Supremo Naveen Patnaik who was once considered invincible seems to have bitten the dust. BJD’s rank and file are angrily pointing fingers towards Patnaik’s Man Friday, VK Pandian for such humiliating defeat for BJD both in the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. This “outsider” bureaucrat-turned-politician seems to have rubbed the people on the wrong side not only within his party but state’s Opposition leaders too. It is said, he used to micro-manage, stonewall people from meeting Patnaik and keep crucial information from reaching Patnaik. BJP played the “outsider” card smartly to dethrone Patnaik and his party. Sources say, BJP tom-tommed that Patnaik was a puppet in the hands of Pandian. This apart, the Ratna Bhandar controversy added fuel to the fire as well. Pandian, an IAS officer who hailed from Tamil Nadu, started his journey in 2011 when he joined the CM’s office as Naveen’s private secretary. He impressed CM Naveen with his efficiency and quickly rose to become a key figure in all decision making. He devised electoral strategies for the BJD both in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Essentially he was ‘go to man’ for all BJD leaders. So cocky was he about winning both the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections that he announced he “will quit politics if BJD does not get three-fourth majority”. Now, far from resigning he suddenly seems to have gone missing and rumours are that a look out notice has been put but BJD has clarified he has been sent to Delhi for official work. Patnaik, after a very long time, ‘went alone’ to hand over his resignation to the Governor. For Patnaik who had a glorious rule the end was unceremonious. Perhaps he trusted the wrong guy.
It was a sort of “Indira is India” moment for the BJP made by the infamous Congress leader DK Barooah during Emergency. Puri Lok Sabha candidate Sambit Patra committed sacrilege when he remarked that Lord Jagannath was a bhakt or devotee of PM Narendra Modi. Dubbing it as a slip of tongue, he announced that he would undertake a penance and fast for three days. Taking a jibe at Patra, BJD leader and close aide of Odisha chief minister, VK Pandian cautioned Patra against fasting in this scorching heat. “I think he should take care, there is too much heat and dust. He should eat properly and take care. Three days before elections, he should not faint. He is a doctor, he should know what to do.” The BJD leader denied it would escalate this issue as it did not believe in doing politics over religion, especially Lord Jagannath who is the symbol of Odisha’s identity. A day earlier, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik denounced Patra’s remark saying it has hurt the sentiments and demeaned the faith of crores of Jagannatha bhaktas and Odias across the world. The BJP candidate clarified that he wanted to mean that PM Modi was an ardent devotee of Lord Jagannath. To think the gaffe happened on a day, Modi had campaigned for him in Puri!
It’s now certain that the bonhomie situation between BJD-BJP is over at the highest level. It’s a war like situation between hopeful BJP and well entrenched BJD in Odisha. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his electioneering visit to Odisha said “BJD’s expiry date is June 4, the day the Assembly election result will be announced”. Modi also invited Odisha netizens to the swearing-in ceremony of BJP CM on June 10, saying BJP will make Odisha No 1 in five years. Modi in his election speech compared BJD to the setting sun and Congress is already past, while BJP has come with the hope of a new dawn in Odisha” he said. Modi said, the BJP CM in Odisha will be someone who deeply understands and takes pride in Odia culture. Political watchers are asking a couple of questions: Is this Modi’s ploy to intimidate BJD, setting the election tone? Is Modi’s statement based on the feedback given by Odisha BJP leaders? Those who know Modi’s penchant for political spin, say this is Modi’s way for positive thinking just like his famous election promise of “achhe din“. After PM’s expiry day remark Patnaik’s protege VK Pandian said “Naveen Patnaik will take oath as Odisha CM for 6th time on June 9.” On his part, Patnaik said “It has been a long time BJP is daydreaming.” Former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh took a jibe at BJP Modi saying “Odisha has suffered gross neglect in the hands of Modi sarkar. He sighted CAG reports saying central transfers as percentage of revenue receipt has decreased from 57% in 2017-18 to 38% in 2021-2022.”
Union home minister Amit Shah who is on a whistle-stop tour across the country was in Odisha recently where both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to boost the morale of his voters and win the confidence of the voters. He told the cadres and leaders, BJP will form the Odisha government in 2024. As for the electorate he told them that BJP will make Odisha No1 state in the country if given an opportunity. He dropped the succession plan bombshell of Biju Janata Dal. He publicly said that chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s confidant VK Pandian may be a possible successor. This statement seems to have unnerved seasoned BJD leaders. But, there is no denying the fact that just like Modi who is admired across the country, so too is Patnaik across the state. He is the undisputed king; nobody can ease him out of the throne in this lifetime. The general feeling is that Patnaik will be sworn in as the CM for the sixth consecutive time in 2024. Yes, what goes against Patnaik is his age (77-year) and health but not lack of development of the state per se. Pandian emerging as eventual successor seems to have sown seeds of discord among senior BJD leaders. After Patnaik, they feel the party will disintegrate as nobody would want to be led by an outsider like Pandian. Against this backdrop, BJP seems to have the field wide open for it.
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s decision to contest Assembly election from two constituencies — Kantabanji which falls under Bolangir Parliamentary constituency in Western Odisha and Hinjili in Ganjam, has set the tongues wagging. Everyone is asking what’s HIS compulsion? Well-placed sources say Patnaik’s objective in one word is to stymie both BJP and Congress hold in Western Odisha. In a way, he is not only signalling his commitment to develop western Odisha but also challenging BJP in five Lok Sabha and eight Assembly constituencies besides wiping out Congress in Bolangir. Congress sources say Naveen babu is rattled that Congress is supporting the creation of a separate State of “Koshal”. And this is why he has decided to contest from Bolangir District. Be that as it may, Patnaik seems to be serious about nursing western Odisha Kantabanji and may finally opt for this constituency in his sixth term, instead of Hinjili which he has represented five times. Sources say he may opt to give away Hinjili constituency to his eventual successor. Odisha goes to poll in four phases starting May 13 to June 1. Most opinion polls predict that BJP could win nearly 14 Lok Sabha seats out of 21 and this victory could impact BJD in Assembly elections.
In Odisha with BJD and BJP deciding to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections separately, the big question everybody is asking: “Who will wrest the prestigious Parliamentary seat of Puri? Will it be BJP’s Dr Sambit Patra or BJD’s ex-Mumbai top cop Arup Patnaik? Analysts feel BJP’s articulate spokesperson Dr Patra has an edge; he has a head start advantage over Patnaik as he contested 2019 Lok Sabha against BJD’s Pinaki Misra from Puri but lost it by 11,000 votes. So he knows the constituency well. Besides, even after losing the last election, Dr Patra has been nursing the constituency for the last five years and building relationships with locals. Also, Dr Patra’s name was announced quite early in the day by the BJP. On the other hand, many feel Arup Patnaik has been para dropped quite late in the day even though his home town is Delang, Puri. Yes, he is also not new to the game. It may be recalled Patnaik fought the 2019 poll against BJP’s Aparajita Sarangi from Bhubaneshwar but lost it by slender margin. Seasoned observers say “Though Ayodhya is a big positive for BJP, one can’t rule out that Puri’s Lord Jagannath Temple too has been transformed at a cost of nearly Rs 1,000 crore by chief minister Naveen Patnaik. And this is bound to have a positive effect on BJD vis a vis Arup Patnaik. One has to wait and watch till June 4 to find out who will Lord Jagannath bless — Dr Sambit Patra or Arup Patnaik?
With talks with BJP failing, the Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik is going all out to ensure his party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) wins maximum number of Lok Sabha seats in Odisha. And this has put immense pressure on candidates like hockey legend Dilip Kumar Tirkey who is contesting against veteran BJP politician Jual Oram, a five time MP from Sundargarh. Padma Shri and Arjuna Awardee Tirkey is currently President of Hockey India. He was BJD’s Rajya Sabha MP between 2012 and 2018. In 2014, Oram had defeated Tirkey by 18,829 votes. So can Tirkey defeat Oram this time? Not really if one considers reasons given by political analysts. First, BJP’s Jual Oram is a veteran and given his political acumen it will be difficult to turf him out. Second, Tirkey is a Christian and that may help woo Christian votes and improve his performance but not good enough to win as Ayodhya wave is all over Odisha. And finally, this is Oram’s last election so he is bound to win at all costs. Commenting on his rival, Jual Oram said “Dilip is like a younger brother… he was a star hockey player…he is a good human being… but he lacks experience”. On June 4 we will know the voter’s preference.
Most party hoppers are not driven by the politics of ideology or the noble thoughts to serve the people but sheer opportunism to stay in power. Take for instance Bhatruhari Mahtab the five time Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP and co-founder of the party quit as he was being ignored and sidelined by his party (read Naveen Patnaik). He will be fighting Lok Sabha election from Cuttack on BJP ticket against BJD’s Santrupt Mishra, former Birla CEO. Ironically, Cuttack BJP president and former Salepur MLA Prakash Behera resigned from BJP as he was expecting Cuttack ticket. But by going Mahtab way he is likely to join BJD.. The circus of switching parties seems to going on full swing.. Former BJD MP and cine star Sidhant Mohapatra and eminent tribal leader Padma Awardee Damayanti Beshra switched over to BJP along with Mahtab. So too BJD leaders like Prashant Jagdev, Pradip Panigrahi, Arindam Roy, Bipin Pradhan, Arabinda Dhali have joined BJP enmasse. Why are people quitting BJD? Political observers attribute it to the rise and rise of Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s protege, ex-IAS officer VK Pandian, now 5T chairman. He is being groomed to takeover the party say some. He is present in all important meetings and photo ops. At a recent India Today Conclave, Pandian was interviewed one-on-one and this seems to signal where the power is shifting. For diehard BJD members, Pandian is an outsider, a south Indian though his wife is Oriya. Post Ayodhya, BJD members are convinced that there is a saffron wave sweeping the country hence the musical chairs.
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Editor’s Note: Short Post Is Here To Stay…
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