Odisha: Naveen Patnaik’s Bandwagon Displays Imperceptible Saffron Hue in RS

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik. Image Courtesy: PTI
Ever since the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the government in 2000 in Odisha, interestingly, the truck has remained intact even after they broke the alliance after nine years. What is noticeable is that till date, even after losing the 2024 elections, BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik’s political (or mental) subjugation to the Narendra Modi government at the Centre seems to have reached a stage of mental slavery, for whatever reason.
The bonhomie apparently continues even after the debacle that BJD suffered in the 2024 elections when BJP, for the first time in 24 years, shattered Patnaik’s political citadel bringing it down to 51 Assembly seats and a big zero in the Lok Sabha.
As Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Patnaik kept BJP in Odisha at bay for a while, but his political subservience to Modi remains pronounced, contrary to his statements that BJD would take the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) by the horns.
This has proved to be like a smokescreen on several occasions when issues came up in Parliament when BJD demonstrated its submissiveness toward Modi, positioning itself diametrically opposite to the rest of the Opposition parties.
In a recent debate in the Rajya Sabha (RS) on Operation Sindoor, four BJD RS members -- Sasmit Patra, Sulata Deo, Manas Mangaraj and S Mallik –came out openly in supporting the NDA on the success of Operation Sindoor in every possible way, thus skirting aside the failures (security failure had been admitted by the government as well) in the skirmish between India and Pakistan that still face question marks posed by all the Opposition parties and the people of the country.
“As reports suggest, the BJD leadership had issued a whip advising its RS members to speak on Operation Sindoor, crediting the Army and not mmention contentious issues that still agitated public sentiments. This amounted to indirectly telling them ( the MPs) to mouth homilies as regards Operation Sindoor contrary to the realities that have offended India”, Ritik Paramanik, a political analyst and commentator told this writer.
This smacks of political subjugation that the BJD has been displaying on crucial issues in Parliament, such as the Wakf Bill and now Operation Sindoor, he added.
This was clear in the debate in the Rajya Sabha the other day when the four BJD MPs spoke in favour of Operation Sindoor, showering accolades built-in on the BJP-led propaganda to paper over several failures. For instance, the MPs spoke not a word on the claims made by the US President on the ceasefire, and other issues.
“Even some BJD loyalists were left pondering over the conscientious dearth in the deliberations of these MPs who, perhaps, were forced to lose sight of the glaring flaws in the handling of the situation as also the alleged mishandling of foreign policy during the India and Pakistan escalation, which has positioned India in an embarrassing spot in the world,” said Pramanik.
The entire operation/exercise (Operation Sindoor and the ceasefire) raised so many questions in the public domain, which were amplified by the Opposition in both Houses of Parliament, but the NDA turned a deaf ear, with its replies far away from the ground realities. Yet none of the four BJD MPs spoke on any of these issues.
What further fuelled doubts about the “mental subservience” of Patnaik and some of his cohorts, was when two other Rajya Sabha MPs -- Munna Khan and Debasih Samantaray -- virtually contradicted the BJD leadership’s stance, signalling that they could not support the NDA on the issue. Hence, they were asked to abstain from the debate.
Who was the driving force behind such diktats?
Khan was the RS member who had earlier spoken bluntly against the NDA government on the Waqf Bill, exposing some fissures within BJD.
The MPs arguing in favour of the Waqf Bill were the same lot, with Patra louder than many backing the NDA-piloted Wakf Amendment Bill. He tried to justify himself, saying it was a call of his ‘conscience’.
If Waqf Bill voting was a call of ‘conscience’, then Patra needs to explain his stand on Operation Sindoor. Was it also a “call of conscience” or was it political submission that the BJD had been displaying for last 24 years of its rule, almost genuflecting before BJP for reasons best known to the drivers of the BJD juggernaut.
Do Ponzi and mining and scams still bother BJD for its alleged involvement?
On several occasions, when BJD had a sizable presence in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, it had extended its support to the Modi government forcing many political analysts to question the scruples behind it.
“It is obvious that Patnaik is no longer on the driving seat, which he had left to the bureaucrat- turned-politician V K Pandian, who could be singularly blamed for the party’s debacle in 2024 polls” added Pramanik.
It is widely believed in political circles that Pandian has taken ‘sanyas’ from politics but that is a “mere mirage”.
“He was always there and is still there with Patnaik, and now he has come out openly to reclaim his stronghold in BJD. His so-called ‘sanyas’ from politics was a diversionary tactic to hoodwink BJD followers”, said Rabi Das, senior political analyst.
“It would be wrong to assume that Pandian is out. In essence, the ‘sanyaasi’, it appears, is back with a baton instead of a bowl, wearing an invisible saffron attire and doing what he is assigned to do by the BJP central leadership”, alleged Kameswar Rao, a senior journalist and political analyst.
This game of obeisance by BJD to NDA or BJP goes back 25 years when Patnaik-led BJD vowed allegiance to BJP. Now, it is clear who are the architects of this design that threatens to politically damage BJD despite a sizable arithmetic in its favour in the Assembly with 51 MLAs.
It remains to be seen if sooner rather than later, the opposition Congress would reap political benefits in Odisha, thanks to BJD’s “subjugation” to BJP.
The writer is a freelancer based in Odisha with over 40 years’ experience in the profession. The views are personal.
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