Glaring absence

Agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy is always different from others. Sources said he was perhaps the only minister who was not present during the two-day collectors’ conference held recently in Bhubaneswar. Almost all the ministers made it a point to be present when issues related to their respective departments were discussed, which was widely seen as a prelude to the government’s preparations for the upcoming panchayat elections. However, Maharathy, who was reportedly ill, chose to stay away, leaving it to the mandarins of his department to interact with the district collectors. Sources said the minister, who was in the eye of a storm recently over a string of farmer suicides across the state, might have skipped the event deliberately to avoid  awkward questions over the issue.

BJP fissures 

Denial by senior BJP leaders notwithstanding, fissures in the party’s state unit are becoming increasingly apparent. The state leadership is said to be worried about the behaviour of the trio of Bijoy Mohapatra, Dilip Ray and K.V. Singh Deo, all national executive members of the party. The three, who appear to have formed a group of their own, were conspicuous by their absence at the BJP state executive meet in Rourkela last week. Significantly, differences also appear to have cropped up between Ray, who is the party MLA from Rourkela, and Union minister Jual Oram, the sitting MP from Sundergarh. This is equally worrisome for the party as it might send wrong signals to the voters ahead of 2019 elections.

Late minister 

Music lovers grumbled as the World Music Day programme at Bhanja Kala Mandap was delayed on Tuesday because of the late arrival of culture minister Ashok Panda and two MLAs representing Bhubaneswar. Sources said the programme was supposed to start at 6.30pm but the minister and the two legislators were late by about an hour. With the audience getting impatient, one could hear murmurings against politicians in the hall. While one member of the audience wondered if it was at all necessary to invite politicians to inaugurate such events, another whispered that it was pointless waiting for people who have no understanding of music. A former IAS officer, a known music connoisseur, was seen leaving the hall in a huff.

Fresh tussle

Time was when a senior IAS officer and the chief administrator of the Sri Jagannath temple in Puri used to be the darling of the temple servitors who had hailed his appointment in the wake of their prolonged tug of war with his predecessor Arvind Padhee. But the bonhomie between them and Suresh Mohapatra, who is heading the temple administration for the second time, had dissipated sooner than expected. Mohapatra first locked horns with the servitors in the wake of brahma parivartan (soul transfer) ritual of the deities during the Nabakalebar festival last year, suspending two of them. Now, he seems to be heading for another confrontation with them following flagrant violation of the temple administration’s diktat barring devotees from touching the deities on the snan bedi (bathing platform) during the Snana Purnima last week.

King’s grace 

The news conference at the Bhubaneswar residence of Puri king Gajapati Dibya Singh Deb on Wednesday was a tiring affair for both mediapersons and the royal scion. Mediapersons pushed and jostled in the small room looking for a vantage point to cover the event. 

Television cameras having occupied most of the space, several print media journalists had to stand outside the room and they later urged the king to repeat his comments on the controversial issue of devotees’ touching the idols of Lord Jagannath and his siblings on the snana bedi (bathing platform) during the Snana Purnima (ritual bath of the deities) on June 20. The king gracefully obliged even though it must have been tiring for him. 

FOOTNOTE

Pune over Bhubaneswar

In the run-up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first interaction with smart city project officials in 20 cities of the country on Saturday, the mandarins connected with the project in Bhubaneswar burnt the candle at both ends to be as well prepared as possible for the event. Sources said project officials in the state capital organised mock question and answer sessions, soon after they were informed about the Prime Minister’s interactive programme. However, amidst hectic preparations for D-Day, the officials in Bhubaneswar appeared to have overlooked the fact that the Prime Minister had chosen Pune, which was  No. 2 on the smart city list over Bhubaneswar, which had topped the first-phase smart city list, for anchoring the event. This should be a sobering thought for them.