Bhubaneswar, Sept. 20: Former finance minister and BJD veteran Prafulla Chandra Ghadei was today expelled for “anti-party” activities.

Asserting his authority, Naveen Patnaik announced the expulsion of Ghadei, who was BJD vice-president and once part of his cabinet and also that of his father Biju Patnaik.

The expulsion comes following a report in Sambad, an Odia newspaper, with extensive quotes from Ghadei, a seven-time MLA from Jajpur district, who described Naveen as a “physically and mentally dull” leader in the firm grip of a coterie consisting of select bureaucrats, police officers, politicians and an entrepreneur.

Ghadei’s long political career, which began in 1967 with his election to the Assembly from Jajpur (West) constituency on a Jan Congress ticket, has been on the decline ever since he came under shadow in connection with the alleged failed coup against the chief minister on May 29, 2012.

Though the coup was allegedly led by the then BJD stalwart and Odisha Jan Morcha chief, Pyari Mohan Mohapatra, Ghadei’s role came under the scanner despite protestations of innocence.

He was denied a party ticket in the last elections and his hopes of getting a Rajya Sabha berth also did not materialise.

For the chief minister, who continued to tolerate Ghadei and made him a BJD vice-president, the report in today’s Sambad was the last straw.

The detailed report, which Ghadei has disowned in the wake of his expulsion, described the coterie guiding Naveen as KPPP (Kalpataru-Pandian-Pinaki-Prabhakaran).

While Kalpataru (Das) is the Rajya Sabha MP and till recently considered close to the chief minister, Karthikeyan Pandain happens to be Naveen’s private secretary and among the most powerful bureaucrats in the state. Pinaki Mishra is the sitting Lok Sabha MP from Puri whose counsel the chief minister is said to value much.

However, the identity of Prabhakaran is yet to be established conclusively.

Former chief secretary and the Odisha Human Right Commission member Bijoy Patnaik and senior IPS officer Arun Sarangi are also part of the coterie, according to the report carried by the daily.

In his extended outburst, Ghadei described the chief minister as a ‘wonder’ of India to have survived for so many years because of the absence of a strong Opposition.

A stalwart of Jajpur politics, Ghadei was quoted in the report as saying that the chief minister had honed the art of revenge politics and clipped the wings of several senior party leaders to keep his chair intact. Portraying Naveen as a politician in Machiavelli’s mould, the expelled leader alleged that Naveen also manouevered to get the man of his choice elected as the Pradesh Congress Committee president and effectively stunted the growth of the BJP in the state.

He alleged that Naveen had so managed things that senior state BJP leaders, including its president K.V. Singh Deo and Union minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan, would not utter a word against him.

Stung by his expulsion, Ghadei, who failed to get an audience with the chief minister when he went to see him at the secretariat along with his MLA son, Priti Ranjan, mounted a damage control exercise.

“What has appeared in the newspaper was not meant for publication. I will soon send a contradiction,” he said. Giving an emotional touch to his statement, he wished no harm came to his son Priti Ranjan because of the misfortune that has befallen him.

“My son is deeply hurt. This is the blackest day of his life. But since I have not done anything to harm the chief minister, he will continue to work for the party,” said Ghadei, who described himself as a victim of his rivals’ conspiracy while still swearing loyalty to Naveen and the party.

But none of this seems to have made any impact on the chief minister who, with the announcement of the expulsion order, seems to have drawn a curtain on Ghadei’s long political career.

This was more than obvious from the fact that the entire party rallied behind Naveen.

Even old colleagues of Ghadei were unsparing in their criticism of the rebel.

Excise minister, Damodor Rout, who was also part of Biju Patnaik cabinet with Ghadei, said: “No individual is indispensable. The step is timely and welcome.”

Welcoming the decision, another senior minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said: “Ghadei’s anti-party activities stand exposed. Indiscipline should not be tolerated at any cost.” While some BJD MLAs organised a demonstration in Bhubaneswar and burnt effigies of Ghadei, reports of similar protests also came in from Jajpur.