Naveen relief

The news that the Jharkhand cabinet has decided to bestow the second official language status on Oriya must have come as a great relief to Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik who was under tremendous pressure from aggressive pro-Oriya lobbies in his own state over the issue. The lobbyists, with diverse political loyalties, had been accusing Naveen of neglecting the interests of Oriyas residing in the Saraikela-Kharsawan belt of Jharkhand, which by a quirk of history became part of undivided Bihar long ago. The chief minister was seen as not doing enough to preserve Oriya language and culture in this region with a predominantly Oriya speaking population. The move of the Jharkhand cabinet is certain to absolve Naveen of that charge.

Tall order

For all his bravado about government being ready to face any calamity, tackling the crisis triggered by erratic rainfall in the state may prove to be a tall order for revenue and disaster management minister Surya Narayan Patro. According to the preliminary reports sent by district collectors, around 99 blocks have been affected. In most places farmers appear less than prepared to absorb the losses and get ready for the next crop. With the Opposition gearing up to launch a state-wide movement on the issue, things may become further difficult for Patro who clearly finds himself in an unenviable situation.

Favouring Rourkela

Critics of urban development minister Sarada Prasad Nayak allege that ever since taking charge of the department he has been paying too much attention to Rourkela, which is his constituency. What they mean apparently is that this is being done at the cost bigger cities such as Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, the cultural capital of the state. Pointing out that while plans are afoot to make the steel city cleaner, a master plan is being prepared for Ved Vyas on its outskirts. Critics have charged the minister with neglecting Bhubaneswar almost completely. 'What has he done for the city since taking charge? Even the roads are not being swept regularly,' grumbled one of them.

Chilika blame

If illegal prawn culture enclosures (gherries) still exist in Chilika, presumably Asia's largest brackish water lake, some of the blame should also go to chief minister Naveen Patnaik. Like most of his predecessors, he has done little to rid the lake of this menace, which is responsible for Chilika's increasing silt load and the shrinkage of its area over the years.
Occasional eviction drives in the lake area notwithstanding, the culturists, given their substantial political clout, remain as firmly entrenched as ever. More significantly, they are now reported to have succeeded in driving a wedge between groups of traditional fishermen who had so far been opposing prawn culture.

BJD worried

As parties gear up for the panchayat elections, the ruling Biju Janata Dal remains worried about its prospects in Daspalla Assembly constituency where the local MLA Kashinath Mallick and Kandhmal MP Rudramadhab Ray are at loggerheads. Though ideally the party should give the local MLA a free hand in the selection of candidates for the panchayat polls, Ray, who hails from the area and has represented the constituency in the past, wants to have a say in the matter. Sources close to him say that he agreed to contest the Kandhmal seat because of party pressure but his heart remains in Daspalla, which he has nurtured for a long time. His hold on the constituency is bound to weaken if he fails to get panchayat tickets for his loyalists. While Ray is not prepared to let this happen, Mallick is equally determined to have his way as far as ticket distribution is concerned. No wonder the BJD leadership is worried.

No love lost

If Congress sources are to be believed there is no love lost between leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh and the party MLA from Kantabanjhi, Santosh Singh Saluja.
Though they hail from the same impoverished belt of western Orissa they do not see eye to eye over a number of issues. Saluja, who is the more aggressive of the two, is said to be unhappy with the way Singh has been leading the party in the Assembly. What galls him is that the party bosses have been keeping mum on the issue despite growing complaints against Singh's leadership.

Saluja and his friends would like Singh to be replaced with a more aggressive and charismatic leader, but that seems unlikely to happen in the near future.