Enormous task

Finance minister Pradeep Amat may have “humbly” accepted the additional charge of the health department following the exit of Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak from the ministry in the wake of the Sum hospital fire, but BJD insiders say he would have been happier without it. The department is so trouble-ridden at the moment with the Sum fire and Japanese encephalitis outbreak in Malkangiri in focus that Amat, already overburdened, will find it hard to do justice to his new charge. Sources said the minister, who recently visited Malkangiri along with health secretary, is struggling to come to grips with the challenge that he faces. “Having watched his predecessor closely he is aware of the enormity of the task. What makes his job all the more difficult is the high expectations of the people,” said a BJD leader.

Low profile

Former minister and veteran BJP leader from Sambalpur Jaynarayan Mishra seems to be keeping a low profile these days. The burly leader, who used to have an opinion on almost anything important happening in the state, has been unusually quiet for sometime. Sources said Mishra, who had a brush with the authorities in his hometown during the Hanuman Jayanti celebrations sometime ago and then again when Union water resources minister Uma Bharati visited the Hirakud dam, is being extra cautious to avoid controversies. “He is keen to ensure that his BJD rival and present Sambalpur MLA Raseswari Panigrahy does not get an opportunity to criticise him,” said a BJP leader.

Mystery report

Former minister and BJD Rajya Sabha member Prasanna Acharya finds himself in an awkward situation every time newspersons ask him about the inordinate delay in chief minister Naveen Patnaik releasing the Mahanadi report compiled by him. The much talked about report had been prepared after a BJD team led by Acharya visited Chhattisgarh and some other areas to have a look at the barrages and other structures that have come up in the upstream of the river that is now a bone of contention between Odisha and the neighbouring state. Now, even as BJD gears up for a signature campaign and a human chain to highlight the Mahanadi issue, the contents of the report remain a mystery.

Berth dream

BJD leader Surya Narayan Patro, who had been sulking after being left out of the Naveen Patnaik ministry when the new government returned to office in 2014, has recovered sufficiently to re-activate himself. Now a senior spokesperson of the party, he can be seen expounding the party’s views on television and at news conferences. Patro, according to sources, has also become hopeful of being inducted into the ministry following the resignation of health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, whose portfolio has been allotted to finance minister Pradeep Amat as a stop-gap arrangement. “Patro is a veteran with a lot of administrative experience. So, he is a possible candidate. But everything depends on the chief minister,” said a BD leader.

Hope floats 

If BJD sources are to be believed, former minister Pratap Kesari Deb, a leading member of party’s youth brigade, was crestfallen when his claim to a Rajya Sabha seat was ignored by chief minister Naveen Patnaik in June when three other party leaders were elected to the Upper House unopposed from the state. Deb, who is among the most articulate of the BJD spokespersons, has been nursing the Rajya Sabha hope since losing the last Assembly election from Kendrapara district even though he was made the chairperson of Odisha State Housing Board as a consolation prize. However, BJD sources said the young leader has got over the disappointment and is concentrating on party work in the hope of being rewarded suitably. 

Light barb

Congress leader Suresh Kumar Routray, who happens to be the father-in-law of embattled Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Prasad Harichandan, recently took an interesting dig at party veteran Niranjan Patnaik who, many feel, is behind the ongoing campaign to dislodge Prasad. Commenting on the tug of war between rival Congress factions, Routray described Niranjan as “Narad”, implying that he had been sowing seeds of discord in the party by carrying tales to the party high command in Delhi. However, Niranjan quite graciously dismissed the barb as light-hearted banter advising newspersons not to read too much into it. “These are light-hearted comments and should be treated accordingly,” said Niranjan, who has also headed the state party unit in the past.