You have picked up a quarrel with Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Prasad Harichandan on the choice of Kalahandi district president. Do you have anything against the person chosen or is it an ideological fight?

This is not the question of quarrelling with anyone. I am past the stage where people pick up quarrels over trivial issues. Having been active in Kalahandi for decades, I know what is good for the cause of Congress in the district. Tell me how many times the person chosen by the OPCC president to head the party unit in the district had raised Kalahandi-related issues when he was the MLA of Junagarh in the district? How many times did he raise the issues pertaining to the state? You cannot impose on us someone who is completely cut off from Kalahandi’s problems.

It seems you are against Prasad Harichandan. Prasad said it would have been better had you taken up the issue with him directly instead of rushing to the media… 

I am not against Prasad. He has said that he consulted ex-MLAs, former ministers and senior leaders while selecting the person. Am I not senior enough to be consulted by him on a matter concerning my home district? By the way, before the selection process began, I had contacted him more than 50 times to discuss the issue.  I raised it even at a party meeting. Prasad had assured me that he would get back to me, which he never did.  He did not have the courtesy to call me even after he took the decision to appoint the district 
president.. 

What exactly is wrong with Prasad?

“I am the boss and master of all” seems to be his attitude. But, this cannot be tolerated in the Congress. Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that Congress should stress on collective responsibility and the party should not become an individual’s zagirdari personal fiefdom). We are not opposing him (Prasad). If he becomes the chief minister of the state with the high command’s blessings, we will welcome him.  But if your ambitions result in sidelining of senior leaders, it will cost the party dearly. It will fail to achieve the party’s objective. The party’s interest will be defeated.

Prasad is quite new as the state Congress chief. But, it seems lots of differences within the party have surfaced within a short span of time… 

There is no difference of opinion but we have a feeling that the aggression with which the party should take on the present government is missing. Being young, he is capable of providing that kind of leadership. But, he has failed to live up to our expectations. He is the material for future and has been made the OPCC president with high hopes by the high command. He has failed to deliver because he has not been able to carry the party with him.  After he became the president, I organised a big rally at Sinapalli which was attended by 25,000 people to strengthen the party.  But I don’t know what provoked him to take this kind of a decision with regard to my district without consulting me. Is this the reward I have got for working for the party sincerely?

What will be your next course of action?  Will you take up the matter with AICC?

Certainly. I will do this at the right time. I just want to say that such treatment should not be meted out to senior leaders. When we are all working to strengthen his hands, he should not do anything to weaken the base in a key district. The Congress can only grow only if we work together. If I help you, I expect you to return the compliment and not to work against me. The OPCC president must remember that there are leaders such as Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, Srikant Jena, Narasingha Mishra and Chiranjib Biswal who are not only senior to him but have a much stronger political base compared to him. All the senior leaders should be taken into confidence and be given due respect.

Why do you consider yourself as indispensable for the party? 

I am not indispensable. No one is indispensable ... particularly in a party like Congress. But at this moment, I am important for the people of Kalahandi. If you sideline me, thousands of Congress workers will be demoralised and sit idle instead of working for the party. The day I realise someone is more capable than me to lead the party in the undivided Kalahandi district, I will make way for him. I have had enough on my platter. But, I can’t see the Congress organisation being weakened in my home district..

Though it has been quite a few years since you joined Congress, it appears that your assimilation with the party remains incomplete with a section of the party workers in the district not ready to accept you. Don’t you think your ego war with the OPCC president on the issue of appointment of district president is a reflection of this?

This is not the issue. There is no question of ego. Prasad had good relations with me till yesterday. I had heard his father-in-law say that some people were not prepared to accept me within the Congress. I have never bothered about it.  I am not among the Congressmen who shirk hard work. I am among the few leaders who have worked not just in Odisha, but across the country to keep the party’s flag flying. 

You are seen as a party hopper, a political opportunist. How do you react to the charge? 

Don’t put this label on me. For the last 18-years I am with the Congress and have given it my sweat and blood. I always work with an ideology - the ideology that believes in protecting the rights of tribals, landless and the downtrodden. Rahul Gandhi has that ideology. Inspired by him, I have taken up this cause and have continued my battle for the deprived and the underprivileged. Had I been an opportunist, you would have seen me on some other political platform now.

It has been noticed that leaders joining the Congress from other parties usually get marginalised in the Congress, especially in the present set up. What’s your view?

There is no question of marginalisation. At least, the Congress party does not believe in this. If you are a leader on your merit, there is a place for you and no one can take it away from you.

Rahul Gandhi had sought to win over tribals by projecting himself as their sepoy (soldier) in Delhi. Now, a BJD leader has sought to upstage him saying that chief minister Naveen Patnaik is a “saathi” ( friend) of the tribals. What’s your take? 

Please do not compare Rahul Gandhiji with Naveen babu. What has Naveen babu done so far to protect the interest of the tribals? They are yet to get their rights over bamboo, kendu leaves and other minor forest produce. On the other hand, when everyone is supporting the Vedanta project and even a section within our own party is supporting it, Rahul Gandhi ji has chosen to swim against the current and stood up for the cause of the tribal population. 
In fact, as the sepoy of the tribals, he safeguarded their rights. Naveen babu has miserably failed in this regard. 
lThe state government has sent a fresh proposal for mining in Niyamgiri hills. What is your Green Kalahandi doing about it?
JI  am surprised why are they (NDA Government)  hell bent on give the Niyamgiri hills to the Vedanta group. We will continue to oppose it tooth and nail.

But for Vedanta refinery, Kalahandi remains, by and large, an industry-less district for which successive governments, mostly the Congress, is responsible. And to top it all, now you and your followers are opposing the refinery as well. Isn’t there a contradiction involved? 

We are not opposing industrialisation. Had we been so.  Vedanta would have been closed by now. From the very beginning, we have made it clear that the government can try to get bauxite from other sources but it must spare Niyamgiri, which is considered as the living deity not only by the tribals but also by the people of Kalahandi as a whole. The district has vast bauxite reserves. You can explore any one of them. Why only Niyamgiri?

Don’t you think that with Congress organisation weakening in the state, BJP has stolen a march over it? 

BJP won’t be able to do it again.  Congress has its own political space and if we lost some of it we will be able to retrieve it. 

The Congress Legislature Party and the Pradesh Congress Committee are working in tandem and hopefully we will be able to consolidate our position. But for this, the leadership must take right decisions and the man at the top must carry the entire party with him.

Your political mentor, former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar is no more. How do you remember him?  

He taught me who is what in politics. From him, I learnt how the socialists worked against the Congress government. And he also gave me an insight into the dual character of the socialist leaders

VETERAN LEADER

• Former Union minister, 57-year-old Das graduated from Sambalpur University and worked as an advocate
• He joined the student wing of the JP movement. Das was a part of movements such as “Save Forest”, “Save Farmers” and “Save Niyamgiri hill”
• He represented Kalahandi thrice in the Lok Sabha

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN HAD YOU NOT BEEN A POLITICIAN?

I would surely have been a social activist. Even though I am in active politics now, I am doing service to social causes