For the first time in the Naveen Patnaik regime, we are witnessing people hitting the streets on the issue of their leaders not getting a berth in the ministry. In fact, a series of protests began from your constituency and later spread to other areas…
The people had come out to the streets after they got to know that I had not been included in the ministry.
It was a spontaneous protest. They had a feeling that Sambalpur, being an important region in west Odisha, should have been given adequate representation.
It was the district, not I, that was important to them. Though our government has taken a number of initiatives for the region’s development, people have a feeling that had a minister been chosen from the district, the delivery mechanism would have been further expedited. There is no other intention behind it.
But public perception is that you had provoked your supporters to organise the protests…
Why should I instigate them? These are false accusations and propagated by people with vested interests. When the ministry reshuffle was taking place, I was in Bhubaneswar. I had no idea about the protests till they organised them.
Everyone has ambitions. You quit the medical profession to join politics and became an MLA. You must have aims to be a minister...
It is not about my wish. I wished to serve the people of Sambalpur and Naveen babu has given me that opportunity. Whenever I have raised an issue, he has immediately addressed it.
Many insiders in the BJD say that as you are a first-time MLA, you have not been inducted into the ministry after the reshuffle…
I have no idea about it. On the issue of ministry reshuffle, I can say that it’s the chief minister’s prerogative. He must have set some guidelines while picking his ministers. I have no comments on that.
Not only people from your area, even supporters of Padmanav Behera, Mangala Kisan and Dibya Shankar Mishra voiced their protest on the reshuffle. They believe that more representation should have been given to western Odisha…
Western Odisha has not been given the representation it should have got. Though a number of development programmes have been undertaken by our government for the area’s overall development, people still feel more representation should have been given to the region and the chief minister should give more attention to them.
Of the four MLAs from Sambalpur district, three are from your party. Still the BJD failed to make an impact in the panchayat polls. Don’t you think that its after-effects might also be felt in the coming urban elections?
We admit that the party’s performance in the rural polls in our district was poor. We could win only seven of the 18 zila parishad and made mistakes in selecting candidates.
People want a candidate to be honest, sincere and committed to the their causes, but one should also remember that the panchayat elections are different from urban elections.
Were you not taken into confidence at the time of candidate selection?
As my constituency is an urban one, I had a limited role to play in the affairs of the panchayat election. That is not the only issue. There are several others. Though we performed badly, we are still number one.
The BJP is focusing on western Odisha. Is the BJD prepared to check its growth in the region?
We have to work hard and reach out to people with our programmes. As we have been in power for the past 17 years, our workers have become a bit complacent. We have paid the price for that and we cannot afford to do it anymore.
The chief minister had announced a number of projects for the overall development of Sambalpur district after it shot into limelight following a jaundice epidemic that caused several deaths. You have the administrative machinery with you, but most of the projects are yet to take off…
All the projects that the chief minister had announced are currently under way. There are many issues that need to be looked at while executing a government project, like finalising a work order, calling for a tender and awarding the work to the right person. In order to overcome the inordinate delay, some mechanisms should be developed. I have already raised the issue in the Assembly. The government is also taking these issues seriously.
A large section of people from western Odisha are aggrieved as the state is yet to take a stand on the issue of setting up a permanent bench of Orissa High Court in the region. How do you respond to it?
It’s high time that a permanent bench of the high court was set up in western Odisha. Moreover, it should be set up in Sambalpur as it is one of the main centres of the region. Lawyers have constituted a core committee on this issue. They have also reached a consensus that they would welcome a permanent bench wherever it comes up in the region. Now, it is up to the Centre to take a decision on the location of the bench.
Your government has been in power for the past 17 years. But it has failed to shift the headquarters of the Western Odisha Development Council from Bhubaneswar to the region. Why is it so?
It will be shifted in due course of time.
Resentment among people fuel the demand for a separate Koshal state. How do you respond to it?
Such demands are raised when development is lopsided. Attempts should be made to remove regional disparities.
You had actively taken part in the Mahanadi agitation. The BJD also made it an issue during the panchayat poll. But it seems to have lost momentum…
We have approached the court on this issue. Odisha would be badly affected by the construction of barrages by Chhattisgarh government in the upstream of the Mahanadi river.
Their main intention was to give water to the companies — even their people had approached us on the issue. The Chhattisgarh government is taking undue advantage as they are getting support from the Centre.
There are many leaders in your party who speak against you.
I am not an astute politician. Many people want to surpass you in politics by riding on your shoulders. If you don’t agree, they will speak against you.
Picture by Ashwinee Pati
