Justice AS Naidu Commission has reportedly submitted his report on the hooch tragedy that claimed 43 lives in Khurda and Cuttack districts, but it is not public yet. Has the Commission given you a clean chit?

I have not gone through the report yet. However, from what I have been reading in various newspapers, it appears that I have got a clean chit. I must thank Lord Jagannath.

You took moral responsibility for the incident and stepped down as excise minister. You must be feeling vindicated now.

I am happy that my image has not taken a beating. When the unfortunate incident took place, panchayat elections were just a few days away. Either it was the health department or me (excise department) that was to be blamed. I thought I should not put the chief minister in an awkward situation by hanging on (to the ministry). I didn’t want people to say that Naveen Patnaik did not take action against his schoolmate.

Do you feel that the then health minister Prasanna Acharya should have also stepped down?

No comments.

Would you expect the chief minister to reinstate you into his cabinet?

That is completely his prerogative. I have been a minister for 17-18 years, so it hardly matters (if I am reinstated).

Coming to the Lower Suktel project in Balangir, why have you not been able to convince people to concede land for the project?

We have given them the best compensation package. But demands never end. Some people have been buying land after the notification, hoping to get more compensation. Nearly 95 per cent people are happy with what we are offering. Only a few politically motivated people are opposing it.

There have been reports of police atrocities not only on protesters but also mediapersons. Do you approve of the use of force?

Certainly not. If a mediaperson is there to cover stories, they should not be touched. But if they are inciting people and creating trouble, they have to be dealt with firmly. Journalists need to cover sensitive situations and must be protected.

The Congress stormed back to power in Karnataka after the seven-year rule of BJP, which was wrecked by numerous scams and internal conflicts. Do you think it is possible that the BJD would meet a similar fate?

I don’t see any similarity. Karnataka was badly handled by the BJP. They changed three to four chief ministers. Corruption was rampant. In Odisha, we have a clean chief minister working for the people. Pyari (Mohan Mohapatra) babu may try to play some kind of a role but he won’t be successful.

Your nephew and political rival, Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo recently became the BJP state president and is getting massive response in western Odisha. Do you think it would alter the political balance in Balangir, that he would have an edge over you?

I don’t think he’s getting massive response. In any political rally, you can get thousands of people in exchange for money. He can have a rally anywhere but that won’t necessarily convert into votes. Naveen Patnaik has his own votes. I predict we will get over 105 seats.

Your youngest son Arkesh is keen to make it big in politics. Would you opt out of the race from Balangir to pave the way for him?

Arkesh is already a member of the BJD council. As and when the political doors open, he will move in but not necessarily in the 2014 polls.

Talk is on that you would be contesting for Rajya Sabha elections this time.

These are just rumours. There is no truth in it. But all my three sons are keen to serve the people of Balangir and Odisha.

lWhat prospects do you see for your eldest son Kalikesh?

He is doing well in Delhi and he needs another term there for better exposure, to get to know leaders of national stature.

Of moral values

Scion of the Balangir royal family, Anang Uday Singh Deo, 68, is a Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader who has held several ministerial positions in the state cabinet

The youngest son of the legendary late Maharaja Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo, Anang Uday attended the Doon School in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, and went to the University of Lucknow from where he received his graduation degree in arts

The political career of the five-time MLA took off in 1974 and he was elected as a member of the state legislative Assembly from Loisingha constituency in Balangir. In 1976, he was appointed as minister of state for forests, fisheries and animal husbandry

From 1991 to 2002, Anang Uday spent two terms as the tourism minister

In February 2011, he stepped down as excise minister on moral grounds following the death of 43 persons in Khurda and Cuttack due to spurious hooch

Anang Uday is married to Maharani Rani Vijay Lakshmi Kumari

What would you have been had you not been a politician?

I had a huge interest in yoga and meditation. During my early days, we had a very good guru who used to teach us meditation and give spiritual lessons. I was seriously looking at that as a way to live.

However, guruji felt that we had to fulfil our worldly responsibilities.

Politics was never my first choice. There was a controversy over the Loisingha seat before the 1975 Assembly polls.

My father (Maharaja R.N. Singhdeo) was already an MLA, brother an MP. Nobody except a family member was acceptable.

So, my father forced me to contest for that seat and I won.