Urban development minister Badri Narayan Patra manages to find a place between Bhubaneswar mayor Ananta Narayan Jena and chief minister Naveen Patnaik at a programme in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Too little, too late

Though the salaries of MLAs have gone up by almost three times, most of them see it as too little and too late.

The legislators contend that the hike has not been proportionate to the increase in their expenses. Apart from domestic expenses, most of them have to spend heavily during tours to their constituencies where voters expect them to contribute liberally for community events like football matches and yajnas. A lot of money also goes into attending meetings and conferences which cannot be done without as they help build their political profile.

“Expenses are mounting even for the least flamboyant of the MLAs. The hike is good news but what we got is just peanuts,” an MLA said.

Obliging star

Actor-turned-politician Siddhant Mohapatra continues to be popular in his constituency — Berhampur — though he is yet to make his presence felt in the Lok Sabha.

Not indulging in star tantrums, Mohapatra is ever ready to oblige his fans, a majority of them youngsters, in the constituency known for its craze for movies.

On one of these occasions, he even danced and sang with the audience who seemed not to have enough of him.

The actor, who joined the ruling Biju Janata Dal at the behest of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, has also been getting ample support from revenue minister Suryanarayan Patro, one of the seniormost party leaders from Ganjam. They admire each other a lot.

Lulu backs Ramesh

Trust Congress working president Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra to support colleagues when the chips are down for them.

Lulu to friends, he was quite vocal in his defence of Ramesh Jena, the Congress legislator from Sanakhemundi, who was arrested about a week ago by the police in connection with an incident of firing at a posh apartment in Bhubaneswar. Implying that the arrest was an afterthought coming several days after the apartment firing for which the police had taken eight persons into custody, Mohapatra lashed out at the police and the administration for going after a sitting MLA with ulterior motives.

“What made them wait for so long?” he asked unfazed by allegations that Jena had been arrested from his farmhouse in Brahmagiri.

Switch buzz

The buzz is that former minister and Nationalist Congress Party MLA Prashant Nanda is unhappy with the functioning of the party’s state unit and given an opportunity, would switch over to the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

Ever since his rift with the state party president Utkal Parida, who accused him of anti-party activities sometime ago, Nanda, a well known film producer and actor, has reportedly stopped taking interest in NCP affairs.

At the same time, he has been trying hard to cultivate important BJD leaders in the hope that they would help him make the switch from NCP to the ruling party.

His hopes, however, may remain mere hopes given that chief minister Naveen Patnaik who had sacked him as minister in 2001, remains unimpressed by his manoeuvrings.

Pramila sulks

Former women and child welfare minister Pramila Mallick, who was forced to resign in the wake of the dal scam, is sulking.

Though she may not admit it publicly, Mallick, a dalit from Jajpur district, is aggrieved that she was sacrificed to save the image of the government despite her being given a clean chit by the vigilance department.

What makes her even more unhappy is that her bête noire, former minister Debashish Nayak has been hogging the media attention for having brought the scandal to the fore.

Belonging to adjoining constituencies, both have been political rivals for a long time and, if sources in the ruling party are to be believed, Mallick is now looking for ways to “fix” the Bari MLA.

Footnote

Minister’s silence

After making the right noises about the 12 million tone Posco steel plant in the immediate wake of Union environment ministry’s conditional clearance to the project, agriculture minister Damodar Rout has been keeping quiet on the issue.

Sources close to the minister, who hails from Jagatsinghpur district where the project is proposed to be located, said his silence was deliberate as any statement by him at this stage might add to the already raging controversy over the diversion of forest land for the Rs 52,000 crore plant.

“He has friends on both sides of the Posco divide and his rivals might misinterpret his statements over the issue. Hence, silence for him is the best policy at the moment,” said a follower of the leader.