Word of ‘caution’
The saffron-robed Biju Janata Dal MP, Prasanna Kumar Patsani, had women squirming in embarrassment at a state-level event to mark the Vigilance Week as he analysed the reasons for the rise of corruption in society. The bearded leader, popularly known as “Baba”, sought to pin the blame on women who keep goading their men to earn more by hook or crook to satisfy their material desires. “Even Lord Ram fell prey to this and went running after a golden deer at the behest of Sita. In the bargain, he lost his wife. Women will better guard against this urge for material aggrandisement,' the MP cautioned as the women present in the auditorium shifted in their seats uneasily.
Bihar copycat
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik seems to be copying his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar step by step. His first copycat act was gifting free bicycles to Class X girls a la Nitish. Now he has taken another leaf out of Nitish’s book by turning the house of a tainted former IAS officer into a homeopathic dispensary. Sources close to Naveen say he is an admirer of Nitish and finds nothing wrong in borrowing ideas from him, as both of them believe in working towards a corruption-free society where social justice would prevail. “They keep in touch and exchange ideas frequently,” said an insider.
Head-on clash
The state government and the Archaeological Survey of India have come face to face again following the recent incident of a stone getting dislodged from the edifice of 12th century Puri Jagannath temple. While chief minister Naveen Patnaik immediately shot off a letter to the Centre demanding action against officials who had neglected maintenance of the famous shrine, the ASI asserted that it was doing whatever was necessary to keep the edifice in shape. The state government had drawn the attention of Union culture ministry on this issue even in the past, but such incidents kept happening. No wonder, the chief minister is miffed with the ASI.
Party infighting
Internal war of the Nationalist Congress Party in Orissa seems to have intensified with senior leaders working at cross-purposes. Their differences came into open recently with the party, which had an electoral alliance with the ruling Biju Janata Dal in the last Assembly elections, making seat adjustments with the Congress for the upcoming municipal polls in Kendrapara. While the state party president and former MLA, Utkal Parida, promptly declared that their alliance with the BJD was over, the NCP legislature party leader, Amar Prasad Satpathy, contradicted him asserting that the “local level arrangement” with the Congress in Kendrapara had no bearing on the party’s equations with the Biju Janata Dal at the state-level. One wonders who is telling the truth.
Bull’s eye
The Congress has its eyes set on the Umerkote Assembly seat, which has fallen vacant following the murder of incumbent MLA Jagabandhu Majhi. Though Majhi belonged to the ruling Biju Janata Dal, the Congress is keen to wrest back the seat, which was once its stronghold. The party virtually launched its campaign in the constituency on October 31 by organising a grand ceremony at Raighar on the death anniversary of former Prime Minister and Congress icon Indira Gandhi. State Congress president Niranjan Patnaik himself was present on the occasion, which showed that the party is taking the upcoming contest in the constituency seriously.
Posco worries
With the Posco controversy refusing to go away, industries minister Raghunath Mohanty appears to be a worried man. Mohanty cannot hope for the project to make any realistic progress on the ground with the people of Dhinkia gram panchayat, the epicentre of the anti-Posco movement, once again on the warpath.
They have successfully resisted the construction of a road in the area and have also stalled further acquisition of land for the 12-million tonne steel project. With a massive police build up in the area going on, a confrontation looms large. But, this will only add to the problems of the government.
