‘Aam’ aadmi

A video of chief minister Naveen Patnaik speaking to a roadside mango seller has gone viral on the social media. It shows Naveen approaching the seller’s kiosk exclaiming “mango”! And then he goes on to enquire if the mangoes are actually sweet. “Apana sat kahu channti ta (hope you are telling the truth),” he says, before asking the seller if he washes the mangoes before selling them. The man nods his head pleased that the chief minister has chosen to stop by his kiosk. The 10-second video had scored around 2,000 likes within days of being loaded on the Facebook. That shows how popular our mango loving chief minister is.

Third eye 

Journalists and visitors were surprised to find LCD TVs installed in the Assembly hall on the opening day of the budget session. 

The unprecedented move, said sources, was aimed to keep tab on the legislators inside the House in the wake of the controversy sparked by Congress MLA Naba Kishore Das allegedly watching porn clips on his smartphone inside the House during its last session. The issue is still pending with the ethics committee. 

Meanwhile, grapevine has it that Assembly secretariat is planning to stop newspaper and electronics photographers from capturing visuals of proceedings. The secretariat instead will provide it to them on demand.

Smart posters

The first signs of Bhubaneswar turning into a smart city are the big signboards that you see on most of the important government buildings. Two big ones have been installed at the state guest house which was also given a makeover recently. 

While no one is complaining about the signboards or questioning their utility, the general opinion is that these cosmetic changes will not make the state capital “smart” in the true sense of the term. 

“We  need to deal effectively with the piles of garbage accumulating in many areas daily and we also need to create proper infrastructure to keep the basic civic amenities going,” said a senior citizen.

Soft target

The verbal duel between co-operation minister Damodar Rout and senior BJD MLA Surya Narayan Patro over the issue of defunct cold storages attracted a lot of attention both inside and outside the Assembly last week. Political pundits, however, are still trying to figure out what Rout meant when he told Patro during their heated Question Hour exchange: “I know why you are asking this question. But you will not succeed in your motive.” One explanation being offered is that Patro, who is desperate to comeback into the Naveen Patnaik ministry, trained his guns at Rout as the latter has become a soft target in the wake of recurrent controversies that appear to be threatening his job.

Wait & watch 

VIPs are used to making commoners wait. But reverse was the case at the meeting called by the police commissioner last Monday to resolve the deadlock over the controversial dumping yard of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation at Bhuasuni. 

While bigwigs such as Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patasani, two local MLAs, police commissioner and the city mayor arrived at the Circuit House, the meeting venue, well before time and took their seats in the hall, they had to wait for more than half an hour for the Daruthenga villagers, who are at the centre of the controversy and without whom the meeting could not have taken place. 

The aggressive villagers, who are demanding shifting of the dumping yard, also sought to dictate terms telling the assembled VIPs that if the dumping yard was not moved within three weeks, they would lock it up. 

FOOTNOTE

Go-getter

Former Brahmagiri MLA Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra aka Lulu remains a force to reckon with in the state Congress despite having lost two successive Assembly elections. 

His clout has been  evident  from the number of party MLAs, especially the young ones, visiting him frequently. As Lulu trained his guns on arch-rival and minister Sanjay Das Burma on Thursday, one saw several party leaders, including Congress chief whip and Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Jharsuguda legislator Naba Das and Jagatsinghpur MLA Chiranjib Biswal thronging his residence in Bhubaneswar. Party sources said leaders, especially the younger ones, still flocked to Lulu because he was a go-getter. “His dynamism draws supporters,” quipped a leader.