Some support

Satish Gajbhiye, the former Kendrapara superintendent of police who was placed under suspension following allegations of police excesses during public protests against Sarathi baba alias Santosh Raula, may be a villain for the media and the Opposition parties. But, within the police fraternity, there seems to be a lot of sympathy for him. Even lower level police officials feel that the 2002 batch IPS officer has been humiliated by the government to appease the people campaigning against him, without taking into account the circumstances that forced him to deal sternly with the agitators. “He is simply a victim of media trial. But this can have a demoralising effect on the police,” said a police officer. 

Baba patronage 

For P.K. Deb,  former minister and  BJD spokesperson, the controversy surrounding his alleged patronage to self-styled spiritual leader, Sarathi baba, has come at a rather inopportune time with his name being bandied about for the Rajya Sabha seat that has fallen vacant following the death of veteran leader Kalpataru Das. Deb, according to BJD sources, was one of the front-runners for the seat, which the ruling party is sure to win given its majority in the Assembly. Though Deb was rehabilitated as the chairperson of Odisha State Housing Board after losing the last Assembly election, he is said to be keen to go to the Rajya Sabha. But, his fate hangs in balance in the wake of the Sarathi baba controversy.

In the limelight

Former minister and BJP leader Jaynarayan Mishra has been maintaining a low profile ever since his brush with  police during the Hanuman Jayanti celebrations in Sambalpur. The burly BJP legislator has refrained from commenting on important issues, including party affairs in the state. But, out of the blue, his name is being discussed in connection with the establishment of the Indian Institute of Management in Sambalpur. It is being said the former minister had a lot of stake in the institute on whose premises the IIM would function till its permanent campus is ready. Though neither Mishra nor any of his supporters have chosen to comment on this, it is certainly not bad publicity for a leader who claims to have done a lot for the development of Sambalpur. 

Up for grabs

With the passing away of BJD leader Kalpataru Das, the war for political supremacy in Jajpur district has taken a very interesting turn. The focus is certainly on the BJD with leaders such as the young minister for energy Pranab Prakash Das, who is ready to joust with veterans such as expelled leader Prafulla Ghadei and his MLA son Preeti Ranjan. Ghadei and Kalpataru were the worst of enemies and the former would do anything to take advantage of the vacuum created by the latter’s death in the hope of clawing his way back into the ruling party. However, if the ruling BJD sources are to be believed, Ghadei would face stiff opposition not only from Pranab, who was a Kalpataru protégé, but also the BJD’s women’s wing chief Pramila Mallick and former minister Debashish Nayak, who also belong to Jajpur district.

Left in the lurch

George Tirkey, the Samata Kranti Dal leader and Birmitrapur MLA, seems to be running out of issues to keep himself politically afloat in the constituency that has sent him to the Assembly several times, first as a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha legislator and later as an Independent candidate. But every time he won as an Independent, he had the strong backing of the people of his constituency, because he took up their issues with great seriousness. However, currently Tirkey appears to be going through a lean patch, which must be worrying him as the monsoon session of the Assembly is round the corner. The only issue of substance that he was banking on to connect with the people 
this time was the agitation of tribal residents in Rourkela against the inclusion of areas inhabited by them in the proposed Rourkela Municipal Corporation. But even this issue is wearing off, leaving Tirkey in the lurch.

Footnote

Damp squib

On August 6, the state government organised a programme at Jayadev Bhavan to felicitate young Odias who cleared the Union Public Service Commission exams. There were around 20 of them present on the occasion. Sources said initially the organisers had decided that the successful candidates would interact with college students who aspire to crack the highly competitive exams. This had drawn a lot of college students to the programme, perhaps the first of its kind in the state. However, the schedule went haywire as chief minister Naveen Patnaik arrived to felicitate the future IAS and IPS officers. All that the budding candidates did was to go up the dais and collect their medals from the chief minister. The college students, who were waiting for an opportunity to interact with their heroes, went back a tad disappointed.