Hot seat - ARABINDA DHALI,

MLA, BIJU JANATA DAL

You were the first political leader in the state whom Maoists targeted in 2001. In the past 14 months, kidnapping by Maoists has become frequent. Since February 2011, they have kidnapped Malkangiri collector Vineel Krishna, a junior engineer, two Italian nationals and then Laxmipur MLA Jhina Hikaka. What do you think is the reason behind this?

Maoists are trying to increase their importance by kidnapping and attacking celebrities. Their sole purpose is to create fear psychosis among people. They are hardcore criminals and the kidnappings are a cheap way of earning money and getting things done the easy way. They have deviated from the original ideologies of helping the underprivileged. They are sparing none, looting the rich as well as the poor for their own survival. Maoism has become a business.

Unlike most other politicians, you have taken a hard stance against the Maoists. Do you not fear them?

I am a firm believer in destiny. If I am destined to be killed by Maoists, no force on earth can stop it. Had all the two seats of Malkangiri district not been converted into scheduled constituencies, I would have contested elections from there. My aim is to serve the people. Why should I be afraid when my intentions are noble?

Why do the Maoists hold a grudge against you?

Because I am a very popular leader in Malkangiri. Post the landmine blast, I had gone to Delhi and it was around that time that the paramilitary forces were deployed in the district. The Maoists felt it was my handiwork and attacked me.

Are you able to visit Malkangiri as much as you would have wanted?

No, but the situation there is gradually improving. The Maoist supremacy is declining. Their organisations are disintegrating and a division within the leadership has been exposed. They don’t know where they are heading. So their new formula is kidnapping prominent personalities and trying to secure the release of their colleagues in jail. They are adopting wrong methods to keep their movement alive.

Maoists’ argument is that the state government has neglected tribal-dominated regions for which they have resorted to extreme steps.

This is a wrong argument. Maoists are not allowing the state machinery to develop the infrastructure there. The government has done a lot for the development of tribal regions. It has set up 3,000 residential schools for tribal girls. There is an Ekalavya school in Malkangiri. It has introduced many schemes such as Rs 2 per-kg rice, bicycles for schoolgirls, Mamata scheme for pregnant and nursing women and so on. The Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput districts are getting special funds.

But just before his release, Hikaka had written to the government that he was resigning as MLA since he had failed to bring about development in his constituency during his three-year tenure.

The Maoists made him write that. It was a matter of life and death for him.

The Opposition alleged Hikaka’s kidnapping was orchestrated by the ruling Biju Janata Dal, which reportedly has strong links with Maoist-backed Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh (CMAS).

No, it was masterminded by CMAS convener, Nachika Linga, who is aspiring to become an MLA. He perceived Hikaka as a thorn in his way and forced him to submit an undertaking saying he would resign from the membership of Odisha Legislative Assembly and quit active politics.

You were given Z category security status after you were attacked by Maoists. Your vehicle had been blown off in a landmine blast in which you escaped unhurt. Your house in your village was also blown off by the ultras. But now your security cover has considerably reduced. Does it mean that there is no longer a threat to your life?

No, the threat is obviously there. Everybody knows that. But I don’t know why security has been reduced. Orissa High Court had ordered for special security arrangements for me under the Z category. If the home secretary and director-general of police do not follow the court directive, what can I say? At present, I have four constables, two personal security officers and a havildar for my security.

You found yourself in the thick of a controversy when rumours surfaced about you having an illegitimate daughter. The girl later moved the court.

It was a conspiracy hatched by my rivals. If she were really my daughter, she could have come straight to my house. What was the need for registering a case and all that drama? She is not my daughter.

You are seen as an opportunist. You started with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a long time, switched over to a couple of other parties and finally joined the BJD in 2009.

If you have to work for the people, you need a forum, a political cover. I quit BJP because some jealous party members were against me and wanted to end my political career.

Do BJD members support you wholeheartedly? Is there no jealousy?

They have accepted me and given me a ticket to contest from the Jayadev Assembly constituency in Khurda district and became the MLA. As I am new to the party, it will take time for everyone to accept me. If not completely, I am sure they have accepted me to some extent. However, senior leaders have accepted me and feel that I am an asset to the party.

Are you hoping to get a ministerial berth in the future?

That is the chief minister’s prerogative. I am not too ambitious. I feel happy working for the people.

Government service to politics

• Arabinda Dhali, 53, is a senior leader of the ruling Biju Janata Dal and a former minister for cooperation, transport and commerce. He made his political debut in 1990 as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party

• Born in 1959 in East Pakistan, Dhali was only six years old when his family migrated to Malkangiri district in Odisha.

• He completed his matriculation from the local high school and took up a job. After a brief stint in the tribal development cooperative corporation, he did his intermediate and graduation studies as a private candidate.

• He was working as industries promotion officer in undivided Koraput district when he quit his job and stepped into politics. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and continued as a member till 2005. Next, he switched over to the Bharatiya Janshakti Party led by Uma Bharti and then to the Samajwadi Party.

• In 2009, he joined the Biju Janata Dal and won the Assembly elections from Jayadev constituency.

• He was embroiled in a controversy last year when a woman claimed to be his first wife and said they had a daughter. However, he was given a clean chit by the court.

• Dhali takes great interest in reading books and holds double MA degrees in law and public administration. He has also acted in several films.

What would you have been had you not been a politician?

I would have preferred to be in government service. I was an industries promotion officer before I joined politics, which had been my dream for a long time. What actually drove me to join this field was the fact that the various problems dogging Malkangiri (Dhali’s home) were not being adequately reflected in the Assembly by political leaders representing the district.

Several local residents told me that since I was educated and a government servant, I should contest elections and highlight the critical issues of the area. That is how I resigned from my job and entered politics.