Chief minister Naveen Patnaik speaks at the free laptop distribution programme for meritorious Plus Two graduates as part of the youth empowerment scheme in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Enemy’s enemy

The launch of Odisha Jan Morcha’s Samparkakranti Abhiyan to oust the Naveen Patnaik government from power has once again triggered speculation about the party’s alliance plans for the next elections.

Though OJM chief Pyari Mohan Mohapatra in the recent past made public statements about being in touch with the national leadership of the BJP on the possibility of an alliance, now the chances of its tie-up with some other parties are also being discussed in the political circles.

“They may embrace anyone who wants to throw out the Naveen government. They are likely to go by the adage that an enemy’s enemy is a friend,” said a leader.

Curiosity quotient

Images of Pradesh Congress Committee president Jaydev Jena and his predecessor Niranjan Patnaik hugging each other during a pre-Id event were recently flashed across TV screens raising a lot of curiosity.

The two being archrivals, their public display of camaraderie is being interpreted differently by various groups within the party. While some think it’s a sign that they are ready to bury the hatchet ahead of the elections, others have called it a tactical move on the part of Patnaik, who was being criticised for waging a proxy war against the PCC president. Patnaik’s own statement on the issue has been quite enigmatic.

“I don’t belong to anybody. I belong to the Congress,” he said. Interpret it any which way you want.

Rout gaffe

Health minister Damodar Rout is in the eye of a storm following his comments on the death of the Kendrapara rape and burn victim at Capital Hospital.

The minister, who is no stranger to controversies, drew the ire of the Opposition with his suggestion that the minor girl, who was rushed to hospital from the Biju Patnaik airport in a critical condition, could have been pushed to death by the racket created by the activists outside the hospital’s intensive care unit where she was being treated.

Opposition leaders, however, found the reflective of the insensitiveness of the government on the issue. “Can you beat this?” asked one of them sarcastically.

Troubled district

Jagatsinghpur seems to have become a problem district for the ruling BJD.

While there is no let up in the turf war between Jagatsinghpur MLA Bishnu Das and his archrival health minister Damodar Rout, now an affidavit row involving Tirtol Rabindranath Bhoi has erupted.

The MLA apparently furnished wrong information about his education in the affidavit filed at the time of his nomination for the 2009 Assembly elections.

There is no denying the embarrassment of the ruling party as the issue provides fresh fodder to the Opposition ahead of the elections. Bhoi, on his part, has left it to the chief minister to take a call on his fate.

Insensitivy ire

Bhubaneswar (central) MLA Bijay Mohanty alias Badal is generally an amiable soul. One can hardly imagine him picking up a quarrel with anyone. The MLA, however, had a bad experience when the mob vented its fury following the death of the Mahakalpada rape and burn victim.

Sources said Mohanty was roughed up by the crowd of protestors who were angry with the ruling BJD for its alleged insensitivity towards the minor girl who died after a 12-day struggle for survival.

Of course, he was not the only leader to have faced the mob fury that day. Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda, too, faced a hostile crowd when he visited Capital Hospital where the girl died.

ASHUTOSH MISHRA

Footnote

BJP rift

Factionalism seems to be rearing its head in the state BJP again with the new leadership allegedly ignoring former Union minister Jual Oram and his close confidant Ashok Sahoo.

Party insiders say that state president K.V. Singhdeo has surrounded himself with handpicked supporters who do not see eye to eye with Oram and his protégés.

This, say sources, is the reason why the tribal MP from Sundergarh has not been involving himself wholeheartedly in the party programmes.

The same, according to them, is also true of Sahoo who used to be one of the most vocal leaders of the party.