Pyari Mohan Mohapatra

Bhubaneswar, June 1: Rajya Sabha member Pyari Mohan Mohapatra appeared shattered by Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s announcement to suspend him from the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and struck the posture of a martyr saying he had nurtured the party with his blood.

“I have given the party 12 precious years of my life. I have imbibed a lot of poison to keep it growing,” said the failed coup leader, adding that Naveen hadn’t added a single brick to the edifice that BJD was today.

The 72-year-old IAS-turned-politician described Naveen as a backstabber and said his rapport with the chief minister was over and he was looking forward to receiving more challenges from him. “I will definitely stay in politics and see what more challenges he throws at me,” said the man, who till the other day was seen as the alter ego of Naveen. Mohapatra, however, ruled out the possibility of floating another party.

The former éminence grise of the BJD once again sought to raise questions over the action taken against him and his followers by the chief minister but negated the view that Naveen had all along been a puppet in his hands. “Naveen is too smart to be a puppet,” he said.

Though Mohapatra refused to wash BJD’s dirty linen in public in the immediate wake of his suspension, he did drop hints that if things came to that and it served public interest he would not hesitate to speak on some scams and controversies that had taken place in the past.

In a reflective mood, he said what he lamented most at the moment was the fact that the chief minister had become vulnerable to the influence of some vested interests. He alleged that there were at least two people close to the chief minister who were themselves nursing ambitions of seizing the top post at an opportune moment.

Mohapatra ruled out the possibility of the BJD collapsing following the action taken against him. “I have built this party in such a manner that it cannot collapse under the pressure of such events,” he said. Dismissing public perception that he was arrogant and self-centred, the leader said: “Arrogant people don’t work as hard as me.”