Is Naveen Patnaik Heading Toward Footnotes of Odisha’s Political History?

Virtually in the last leg of his political innings, it is time Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, 78, chose a saner option of playing fair politics.

For, Patnaik’s leadership cut a very poor picture when three days ago, over 300 MPs from the Opposition INDIA Bloc were out on the streets in a protest march to the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) office in Delhi, but none of the seven BJD Rajya Sabha MPs took participated.

Reports suggest that BJD was maintaining its line of ‘equidistance’ (from BJP and Congress), as claimed by Patnaik, so his Rajya Sabha MPs did not take part in the protest march led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is spearheading the Opposition’s protest against “vote theft”.

“If that was ‘equidistance’ then what happened at the time of Waqf Bill and ‘Operation Sindoor’ debates? All seven MPs could have abstained from the debates. Why this selective approach over ‘equidistance’?” wondered Ritik Pramanik, a political commentator.   

Although this time there was no such whip from the BJD’s side nor any tweet over ‘conscience’, as was the camouflaged diktat from the leadership a few times earlier.

That apart, even the BJD leadership has not taken any stance over the obfuscations post the resignation of former Vice President Jagdish Dhankar.

“The litmus test for the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD will be when elections will be held for the new Vice President of India, which would either reveal or conceal the bottom realities within BJD” said Rabi Das, senior political analyst.

“It is a very tricky situation the BJD finds itself in. If its Rajya Sabha members vote in favour of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance candidate, then that would send a very caustic signal for the rest of Opposition parties, once again reaffirming that Naveen’s political existence is governed by the BJP central leadership of Modi by implication” said Pramanik.

On the contrary, if BJD members in Rajya Sabha vote against the NDA’s Vice President candidate, Patnaik, for once, can regain some political face value and silence his critics, at least for some time. Although he cannot erase his past records of submissiveness to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has by now created a lot of Doubting Thomas’s within BJD, which Patnaik or his adviser V K Pandian may not be able to handle.

“The problem is Patnaik is not the man who takes such decisions. He heavily relies on his, seemingly, indispensable adviser Pandian, who is still calling the shots. This is being said by some BJD insiders who are in a “willing to wound but afraid to strike” situation”, added Das.

Patnaik’s over-dependence on Pandian and his unstated hold- up for BJP has created a strange chemistry that may be pragmatic for his political survival but has badly impaired his secular identity.

It is still fresh in the public perception that during the Waqf Bill debate Rajya Sabha, BJD MP Munna Khan openly defied the party’s stand and spoke against it. While another Rajya Sabha MP, Debasish Samantray, stood firm and abstained from voting in favour of the Bill.

“Even during the Operation Sindoor debate, BJD’s five Rajya Sabha members -- Sasmit Patra, Sulata Deo, Manas Mangaraj and Subhasish Khuntia -- desisted from expressing their homage to the families of Pahalgam victims. This was something unthought of, which exposes a myopic syndrome of the BJD leadership”, noted Das.

“In a YouTube channel interview, Rajya Sabha MP, Debasish Samantray, supposedly holding a different view from the shadow leadership (Pandian) of BJD, has reportedly admitted that they were advised not to speak anything emotional on the Pahalgam victims’ families lest it hurt BJP at the Centre” lamented Kameswar Rao, a senior journalist.

“Before the BJD’s aura drops down to remain in the footnotes of Odisha’s political history, Patnaik should opt for an elegant exit rather than an obtrusive one”, he added.

A BJD leader, requesting anonymity, said, "98% of BJD leaders are reluctant to accept a shadow leader other than Naveen which may damage the party badly".

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Odisha with over 40 years’ experience in the profession. The views ae personal.