Mohapatra: Key man

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 23: In Orissa, the power behind the throne seems to be more important than the throne.

This was evident at the state executive meeting of the Biju Janata Dal, held at the Idcol auditorium here today, as party executives made a beeline for Rajya Sabha member Pyari Mohan Mohapatra.

Soon after PM — as the retired IAS officer is known in the state — got down from his car, several young BJD members, including Khurda zilla parishad chairman Prashant Jagdev, rushed to touch his feet. Other party leaders also tried to do a Jagdev but the 67-year-old moved away.

Mohapatra, widely believed to be chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s adviser, did not walk up to the dais and opted for a front row seat instead.

The meeting discussed strategies for the coming panchayat polls and how the state dealt with poor finances under the BJD-led dispensation.

Though Patnaik chaired the meeting, it was Mohapatra, late chief minister Biju Patnaik’s principal secretary in 1990-95 who joined the BJD in 2000, who grabbed the maximum attention. Several senior BJD leaders came with bowed heads to wish the Rajya Sabha member.

BJD leaders and workers believe that nothing moves in the government as well as the party organisation without Mohapatra’s approval. Even the removal of senior leaders such as Damodar Rout, Bijoyshree Routray and Nagendra Pradhan from the ministry and induction of the likes of Bishnu Das, Raghunath Mohanty, Chaitanya Prasad Majhi, Debi Mishra and Sanjib Sahu into the cabinet were done on the Rajya Sabha member’s advice.

Mohapatra, who reportedly “selected” two party general secretaries, Jagneswar Baboo and Narendra Swain, has supporters in MLAs Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Arun Sahu and Niranjan Pujari.

It is believed that Mohapatra was the mastermind behind the “systematic elemination” of “Naveen detractors” like former ministers Bijoy Mohapatra, Nalinikanta Mohanty, Dilip Ray, Ramakrushna Patnaik and Kamala Das in the party.

The chief minister eased out leaders like Kalindi Behera and Damodar Rout, as “suggested” by Mohapatra.