Subhas Chandra Pattanayak
Orissa Chief Minister’s political attire is in fire. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) created by a pack of politicians, who, other than exhibiting themselves as stooges of the late Biju Patnaik, had no chance of wooing any voter, had made his son Navin their Chief and subsequently the Chief Minister of this troubled State, notwithstanding his having no experience in political management. What followed, was naturally a phase of misrule, marked by obfuscated administration. Those who have realised that the common man is no more willing to bear with this misrule are eager to save their own skin by passing the buck to Navin. And in the process, the BJD is burning.
The late Biju Patnaik had no political ideology. He was one of the first syndicate of Mafia to have grabbed political power and whenever he was able to hoodwink the common man in the elections, he was marked for utter mismanagement of the portfolios he was holding. The simple people of Orissa were often misled by his meretricious manner but they were also cutting him to size in subsequent hustings, after observing his misdeeds. A look in to his political career would show that one term in power he was ousted for at least two consecutive terms.
Had the people of Orissa been fully politically conscious, he would never have come back to politics after his first term in the sixties. An astute manipulator, he took full advantage of ignorance of the people. He remained a political leader without any political ideology and probity. Therefore, when a group of people formed the BJD to propagate the ideology of Biju Patnaik, it was clear that lack of any ideology other than self-seeking opportunism must one day make the combine collapse under its own load of contradictions. And, now that is happening. Many a persons who can justifiably claim to be the founders of BJD have been unceremoniously ousted from the organisation. And, the rest are not sure of how long can they stay.
The impact of such pernicious political mischief on administration is so devastating that the grass root man has lost his faith in the State. The exodus of man and women in thousands from rural Orissa to other states in search of bread is a pointer to this.
Inspect any corner of the State, you shall not find any trace of any planned developmental work which could be claimed to have been done during Navin’s tenure. What really has happened, then, to the fund provided for such works in the budget?
The BJD members of Parliament who are opposing Navin Patnaik are claiming that they have addressed their collective conscience to this question and found that the remedy lies in change of leadership.
0 comments » Write a comment