Opera over PM

As Bhubaneswar mayor Ananta Narayan Jena and municipal commissioner Krishan Kumar sat holed up inside the secretariat last Saturday afternoon waiting for the clock to strike 4 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to commence his video-conference interaction on the smart city project, the scene was entirely different at the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation office a few kilometres away. Quite a few BMC officials sat huddled in front a TV set in the office watching the recorded telecast of Katha Dei Thili Mathaku Chuin, an opera. They appeared to have scant interest in the Prime Minister’s video-conference that began half an hour behind schedule. 

Smart move 

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik made a smart move when he interacted with the Prime Minister through video-conference on Saturday on the smart city project. With several chief ministers and senior officials from various states watching the interaction, Naveen not only briefed the Prime Minister on the progress of the smart city project in Bhubaneswar, he also took the opportunity to make a strong pitch for the inclusion of Cuttack, Berhampur and Sambalpur in the project. At present, Rourkela is the only city of the state apart from Bhubaneswar, which is part of the project. If the Centre agrees to the state’s request for the inclusion of three more cities in the project, it would be a big achievement for the state.

Hasty retreat

As BJD staged a dharna near Raj Bhavan protesting against Centre’s alleged neglect of farmers on Wednesday, members of the electronic media were at the receiving end of excise minister Damodar Rout’s abrasive tongue. The minister, who was annoyed by the behaviour of the representatives of a particular TV channel trying to get the bytes of agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy sitting behind him, gave them a piece of his mind. His rebuke was heard loud and clear on the public address system while Rout was delivering his speech. There was no stopping the veteran and the journalists concerned were forced to make a hasty retreat. 

Cheek by jowl 

As the BJP infighting continues to hog media space, the growing proximity between state unit president Basant Panda and Union petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan has become increasingly apparent. They are always together at party programmes and even party posters show them standing cheek by jowl. Currently the most important ally of Pradhan in the state, Panda has reportedly been trying to push the chief ministerial ambitions of the Union minister who also enjoys the trust of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and national BJP president Amit Shah. But the unilateral promotion of Pradhan by the national leadership seems to have riled a set of state BJP leaders who have become less active in party programmes. 

United Congress 

The recent arrest of former Congress MP from Nabarangpur Pradeep Majhi in connection with party’s protests over denial of land rights to the tribal people seems to have united the faction-ridden party. Leaders belonging to all factions and all age groups came forward to express solidarity with Majhi, who is believed to be close to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. While this speaks volumes for the popularity of Majhi, it has also served to remind party leaders of the need to build up aggressive movements on sensitive issues to retrieve Congress’s lost base in the state. “Majhi has shown the way and we must follow him in our own interest,” said a Congress leader.

FOOTNOTE

Motormouths 

Senior BJD leaders are said to be worried about the tendency of the young spokespersons of the party to articulate their views in the media on sensitive issues without proper homework. 

Sources said this has landed the party in an embarrassing situation in the past but in their eagerness to remain in the media limelight, these leaders are unwilling to change their habits. Besides, some of them allegedly crossed their briefs on issues such as the arrest of comedian-turned-politician Pappu Pom Pom, who was recently expelled from the party. “The tendency of these leaders to shoot their mouths off is going to land the party in big trouble some day,” remarked a veteran BJD leader.