Sticking to guns

Cuttack BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahatab finds himself out on a limb following his recent columns questioning the utility of chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s meetings to review the party’s less-than-satisfactory performance in the rural polls. The editor-turned-politician seems to have turned into a political pariah overnight with BJD leaders, big and small, taking potshots at him. With a mere hint of displeasure from Naveen, who has advised party leaders to address their grievances to him directly, lower-rung BJD functionaries have started questioning Mahatab’s commitment. The MP, however, has neither retracted his comments nor expressed regret.

Closet rebel

Former Rajya Sabha member Baishnab Parida, who has embarrassed chief minister Naveen Patnaik with his campaign for the use of Odia in official work, is the only BJD leader to have come out in support of beleaguered Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahatab. In what appeared to be a plea for intra-party democracy, Parida said Mahatab would not have been forced to express his views on party affairs publicly had the party provided him with a forum to discuss the issues. Many senior BJD leaders, however, sought to dismiss Parida's comments as the opinion of a closet dissident, who was frustrated after failing to get re-nomination for the Upper House.

Eye of storm

Berhampur’s famous Budhi Thakurani yatra hogged the limelight for more than one reason. While it attracted the usual crowd of devotees and tiger dance exponents, it also turned into an occasion for politicking with top leaders of all three major parties visiting the town and paying obeisance to the deity. Union minister and BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan was the first off the blocks to reach Berhampur when the yatra, a month-long affair, was at its peak. He was followed by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, and state Congress chief Prasad Harichandan, each trying to strike the right chord with the locals. Berhampur is the political nerve centre of Ganjam, Naveen’s home district, and hence also on the radar of the BJP, which is keen to conquer Odisha in 2019.

Anchor’s gaffe

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s visit to Utkal University saw unprecedented security with both police and the BJD keen to avoid a repeat of 2015, when Congress activists threw eggs at his convoy. Though nothing untoward happened, the anchor conducting it turned out to be the embarrassment. First, she joined a students in raising the nursery rhyme inspired slogan “twinkle twinkle little star, Naveen Patnaik superstar”, evoking smirks. She then compared Odisha with a pond and the varsity with a blooming lotus without realising that it was the symbol of BJP, the BJD’s main rival.

Ashutosh Mishra