Lonely at the top

State Congress president Jaydev Jena is getting increasingly isolated within the party. Recently when he launched an attack on chief minister Naveen Patnaik on the coal block allotment issue, he found himself to be a lone ranger.

The same was also true when he took on the state government on its alleged shoddy handling of cyclone and flood relief. In fact, instead of coming out in his support on these issues, some of the faction leaders secretly worked against him.

A few others behaved as if they were running their own show in complete disregard of the party line. The upshot of all this has been that the government has been let off the hook rather easily, while the authority of Jena within the party has been seriously eroded.

Sparks fly

Grilled by journalists in the wake of the fire mishap in the Bhushan steel plant, labour minister Bijoyshree Routray lost his cool.

Generally perceived to be media-friendly, Routray was snappy and advised scribes to better direct some of their questions to the chief minister and the chief secretary. It was one of his rare ill-tempered encounters with the media but sources said the minister had good reasons to lose his calm.

The newshounds were not only pressing him too hard on the issue, but there were also insinuations that he was going soft on the plant management.

However, the gentleman that Routray is, he later sought to make it clear that his outburst should not be taken seriously and that he meant no offence to either the chief minister or the chief secretary.

Loose cannon

Campaigning for the municipal elections in western Odisha is on in full swing with chief minister Naveen Patnaik leading the ruling BJD from the front.

A number of other senior party leaders have also hit the campaign trail but health minister Damodar Rout, one of BJD’s best orators, has been missing from action. Ruling party insiders say there are two major reasons why Rout has so far been kept out of the party’s campaign in the western districts. First, he is better known as a coastal belt leader and hence may have a limited appeal among the voters in western Odisha.

However, the second and the more important reason is that Rout, of late, has been behaving like a loose cannon, often shooting his mouth off. This is something the party cannot afford at the time of elections.

Chariot heat

The fracas over Puri Jagannath temple administration’s move not to allow anyone except sevayats attached to the rituals of the deities atop their chariots during the rath yatra has landed law minister Maheshwar Mohanty in an awkward situation.

The sevayats, for whom this is a question of their bread and butter, are upset with the temple administration’s decision and Mohanty, who happens to be the MLA of Puri, is also feeling the heat. His obligations as a minister notwithstanding he cannot afford to annoy the sevayats who exercise a major influence over his constituency.

Though the temple committee’s decision is based on the counsel of Shakaracharya Swami Nischalanand Saraswati, sources said that Mohanty was in no mood to go along with it. He is also upset with chief temple administrator Arabind Padhee for taking a tough stand on the issue.

Central shift

Nearly three months after no-nonsense IAS officer Aparajita Sarangi left on central deputation, hubby Santosh, who was heading the ST/SC development department in the state, has followed suit.

Sources said the bureaucrat couple chose to shift base to Delhi temporarily after their daughter Archita enrolled in a top-notch school in the national capital for her intermediate studies earlier this year.

This, however, is not the sole reason behind Aparajita’s departure.

Sources said her decision had a lot to do with the government frequently shunting her from one department to another because of her tough as nails attitude in dealing with administrative matters.

Ashutosh Mishra

Footnote

Mamata riddle

Health minister Damodar Rout recently surprised many by claiming that there could be a political reason behind Bengal government’s reluctance to supply potato to Odisha, which was facing an acute tuber crisis.

Though the BJD veteran refused to elaborate, there were those who read between the lines and concluded that relations between Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik and his Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee were less than happy.

They, however, wondered as to what could have soured the relations between the two leaders who, not so long ago, had appeared to be on the same wavelength over some crucial issues of national importance.

In fact, there was even speculation about Mamata playing a role in the formation of a Third Front before the next general elections. The change in Mamata’s attitude remains a riddle.