Naveen’s efforts

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik is pulling out all stops to ensure a successful Asian Athletics Championship that is being held in the state capital city. Apart from keeping tabs on the arrangements and facilities at the stadium and outside for athletes and officials, Naveen is reaching out to people through messages on their mobiles, urging them to take pride in the event and extend all possible courtesy to the guests and make their stay comfortable. Many have been pleasantly surprised after receiving the recorded message from Naveen who, without doubt, has added another feather to his already decorated cap by hosting the mega event in Bhubaneswar.

Bold stand

Congress’s Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, among the most outspoken leaders of the party, is currently at the forefront of a campaign for the ouster of  Pradesh Congress Committee president Prasad Harichandan. Speaking to a local TV channel recently Bahinipati advised Harichandan to resign on his own in the larger interest of the party. While his bold stand on the issue has been applauded by leaders supporting his faction, Harichandan’s followers are itching for revenge. “He is a gasbag who does not realise that whatever he is today is because of the party,” said one of them.

Turf war

The turf war in Balangir is likely to intensify with BJD Rajya Sabha member A.U. Singh Deo, who lost the last Assembly election from the constituency to his Congress rival and leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra, trying hard to re-establish his supremacy in the area. Sources said that Singh Deo, the scion of the local royal family, is being ably assisted in his efforts by his MP son, Kalikesh Singh Deo, the Lok Sabha member from Balangir. Mishra, a former law minister, also enjoys a lot of respect in the area. By all accounts, it is going to be an interesting battle.

Shah soother

If BJP Legislature Party leader K.V. Singh Deo was feeling neglected, he would now have no reasons to complain. His ruffled feathers were smoothed by the party chief Amit Shah, who visited his Bhubaneswar residence on Thursday and held an important meeting of party functionaries there. There have been whispers over the past few months in the state BJP about Singh Deo, the scion from Balangir, being unhappy with the party’s excessive focus on Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan. “If he was feeling hurt, his feelings have been adequately assuaged with Shah’s visit to his house,” quipped a party leader.

Focus on seat

BJD spokesperson Captain Dibya Shankar Mishra is currently focusing on the development of his constituency Junagarh in the backward Kalahandi district. The high flying former pilot, who was one of the BJD’s most visible and vocal spokespersons till recently, is believed to be spending more time in Junagarh, addressing problems of the common people, especially farmers who constitute his main vote-bank. Sources said Mishra, urbane and always well-dressed, has been forced to spend more time in his constituency because of the threat from the BJP, which made big inroads into the area in the last panchayat elections.

FOOTNOTE

Change of face

Till a few months ago, BJP posters used to be dominated Union minister Dhaemendra Pradhan, widely seen as the party’s chief ministerial candidate in the 2019 elections. The posters either carried his picture alone or when the party needed to put up a group photograph, his face was projected more prominently than the others. But that seems to have changed, as evident from the posters seen during the visit of BJP president Amit Shah. In almost every poster, Pradhan appeared in the company of his ministerial colleague Jual Oram, state party chief Basant Panda and BJP Legislature Party leader K.V. Singh Deo, with each of them getting equal prominence. “Pradhan’s monopoly was beginning to engender jealousy among his colleagues and that was not in the interest of the party,” explained a party leader.