Damp squib

Labour minister Pushpendra Singh Deo is the sole representative of the backward Kalahandi district in the Naveen Patnaik cabinet. Expectations ran high when he was inducted into the ministry, but Singh Deo appears to have disappointed his people with the government yet to take any concrete steps to ameliorate the lives of people in Kalahandi. What has hurt people of Kalahandi the most is the fact that despite holding the reins of the labour department, Singh Deo is yet to come up with any worthwhile plans for stemming the annual tide of migration from the region. “They still continue to go out of the state in search of work. Most of them make the journey with the help of unlicensed labour contractors, who are the worst kind of exploiters, but the labour department has done little to check the trend,” said a critic of the minister.

Pipili live

The Assembly recently witnessed an interesting duel between Biju Janata Dal MLA Pradeep Maharathy and Congress legislator Naba Das. The provocation for Maharathy, who represents Pipili constituency, was a booklet compiled by Das on behalf of the Congress that showed that the BJD government in the state had failed to make use of central funds for Orissa. Apparently taking a dig at his Congress colleague’s writing abilities, Maharathy said he had sincere doubts if the booklet had actually been prepared by Das. Not in a mood to let the Pipli MLA get away with it, Das retorted that he at least does not need a forged certificate to prove that he is a graduate, an obvious reference to the controversy over Maharathy’s academic qualifications.

Spotlight gone

The spotlight seems to have moved away from former minister Balabhadra Majhi, the ruling Biju Janata Dal’s tribal face in Kalahandi. Only a few months ago, when the ruling party’s campaign against the Centre’s neglect of Orissa was at its peak, Majhi was the most sought after man at its rallies where he waxed eloquent on how the state government was trying to uplift the tribals while the UPA regime continued to neglect them. With the campaign on the backburner for the time being, Majhi has been relegated to the background. Last heard, he was working hard to ensure tribal support for a major industrial project in Kalahandi where few industries exist.

Tight Tytler

Handpicked by AICC president Sonia Gandhi to look after Congress affairs in Orissa, former Union minister Jagdish Tytler is taking his job seriously. He has made at least two visits to the state since his appointment, interacting with state leaders who have been told in no uncertain terms that they should not be seen wasting their time hanging around the bungalows of central party leaders in Delhi. In fact, Tytler pulled up two Congress MLAs from the state when they landed up in Delhi recently trying to seek favours from him. The MLAs were told point blank to catch the next available flight back to Bhubaneswar which is the only place where Tytler is willing to discuss party issues with them.

Public face

The state Bharatiya Janata Party has seen many an improvement under the stewardship of Jual Oram but the most visible improvement has been in the PR department of the party. The PR wing of the party has become hyperactive going out of its way to be helpful to journalists who receive a regular flow of hand-outs and Press releases apart from any other information that they may need. The party also kept flooding journalists with pro-India SMSes during the World Cup which India finally won, thanks to Dhoni and his boys. Ask any scribe and he would agree that the BJP PR team has been the most active among the major parties in the state. Whether this PR exercise helps the party in the elections or not only time will tell nThe state working Congress president, Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra seems to be least happy with the appointment of Jagdish Tytler as the in-charge of party’s Orissa affairs. Sources in the party said that Mohapatra seems to have lost his political clout with the arrival of Tytler on the scene, as the latter is promoting his (Mohapatra’s) rivals. While former Banki MLA, Debashish Patnaik is believed to have become close to the one time confidant of Sanjay Gandhi, the other members of his coterie include former Union minister Chandra Shakhar Sahu, who is an aspirant for the post of Pradesh Congress Committee president’s post. As it is neither Patnaik nor Sahu get along well with Mohapatra who is reported to be cursing his luck.

FOOTNOTE

What bad luck!

The state working Congress president, Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra seems to be least happy with the appointment of Jagdish Tytler as the in-charge of party’s Orissa affairs.

Sources in the party said that Mohapatra seems to have lost his political clout with the arrival of Tytler on the scene, as the latter is promoting his (Mohapatra’s) rivals.

While former Banki MLA, Debashish Patnaik is believed to have become close to the one time confidant of Sanjay Gandhi, the other members of his coterie include former Union minister Chandra Shakhar Sahu, who is an aspirant for the post of Pradesh Congress Committee president’s post.

As it is neither Patnaik nor Sahu get along well with Mohapatra who is reported to be cursing his luck.