Royal snub

Former minister and Congress veteran Niranjan Patnaik delivered party colleague Sarat Rout a royal snub recently. Rout, while speaking to a local TV channel, appeared to question the participation of party leaders, including Patnaik, at an event organised by supporters of former MLA Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, who passed away a few months ago. Though it was an informal gathering, it was perceived as an attempt to project Lulu’s brother, Lalitendu, as his successor with the latter seemingly aligning with rivals of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Prasad Harichandan. Patnaik, who was close to Lulu, dismissed Rout’s comments contemptuously saying that he did not bother about such remarks. “I need not respond to that,” he said rather haughtily.

Clash of egos

BJD leaders in Sundargarh district are reportedly bothered about fast tracking their campaign for the panchayat poll. According to sources, the clash of egos between between two former ministers — Sarada Prasad Nayak and Subrat Tarai — both of whom hail from the district, has emerged as a problem for the party. 

Another BJD veteran and the party’s Sundargarh unit president, Mangala Kisan, has been struggling to coordinate with the two prima donnas, who appear to be pulling in opposite directions. Sources said the problem had persisted for a long time and it was singularly responsible for the party’s defeat in the last Assembly election in Rourkela. “If the BJP has grown in the district at our cost, the blame should be shared equally by these senior leaders,” said a BJD activist.

Captain’s knock

Former India hockey captain and BJD’s Rajya Sabha member Dillip Tirkey lost the last Lok Sabha election from Sundargarh, but his status as a sporting icon remains undiminished. His popularity among upcoming players has been growing steadily because of his efforts to promote the game, not only in the district but also at state and national levels. Sources said Tirkey, has been patronising young players and also making a strong pitch for the game as a lawmaker. 

“As a former player and captain, he considers it his responsibility to do whatever he can to promote the game. Budding players will always be grateful to him,” said a Tirkey follower.  

Quick wit

Former minister and Congress veteran Suresh Kumar Routray is popular with all camps in the party despite being the father-in-law of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Prasad Harichandan, who is at the centre of a fierce factional war in the party. 

Routray’s popularity is mainly on account of his bluff nature and his hilarious way of commenting on party developments. On Tuesday, when the party’s election committee met to discuss the strategy for the  rural polls, there was lot of jubilation as almost all senior leaders were in attendance. When former minister Niranjan Patnaik announced that the party would put up a united fight in the panchayat elections, Routray, who was standing behind him, exclaimed: “Oh, beautiful!”, leaving those present in splits. 

Bad bargain

Former chief minister Giridhar Gamang had jumped ships from the Congress to the BJP with high hopes. But, if the BJP’s recently released list of star campaigners for the panchayat polls is any indication, those hopes have been dashed. Gamang, who his followers believed would be the tribal face of the party in these elections, does not figure in the list. 

It does include names of other tribal stalwarts. Sources said even Gamang’s son, Sisir, who had motivated his father to dump the Congress and join the saffron outfit, is not happy with the treatment being meted out to them. 
Gamang, it seems, made a bad bargain by jumping onto the saffron bandwagon.

Footnote

Political move

Odia film stars are known to have a penchant for politics. Quite a few of them have already joined mainstream parties, notable among them being former minister Prashant Nanda, Lok Sabha MP Siddhant Mohapatra and Rajya Sabha MP Anubhav Mohanty. Now, another star, Arindam, is getting ready to step into the political arena. People had started talking about his political debut when he married the sister of energy minister Pranab Prakash Das a few months ago. 

But suspicion in this regard has been confirmed now with his name appearing in the BJD’s list of star campaigners for the panchayat elections. “The next logical step for him would be to contest the Assembly elections,” said a BJD leader.
ashutosh mishra