BJD MLA writes signed article in newspaper, doubts dilution in Naveen Patnaik’s ideology

Zero tolerance to corruption and probity in public life was the hall mark of Naveen Patnaiks principles since he entered into the politics and was the reason for which he Naveen won hearts of people, the article said.Referring to a the alleged incidents and corruption in public life, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, who is also one of the vice-presidents of the party said, Let BJD prove that Naveen Babu has not changed.

At a time when Odisha is being rocked by the gruesome kidnap and murder of a lady teacher in Kalahandi district and demands are rife for the resignation of a minister for being close to the prime accused by the opposition parties, a voice of dissent was heard from within the ruling BJD in Odisha against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's alleged inaction in the case along with a number of others. The voice was raised albeit in a veiled manner by BJD MLA and one of the vice-presidents of the party, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, who is also the founder-editor of the leading Odiya daily 'Sambad'.

Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, who is the son-in-law of former state chief minister J B Patnaik, penned his views in a signed article that appeared on the front page of his newspaper on Tuesday. Over 110 lawmakers of the party have preferred to keep silent over the incidents in which ministers and MLAs are being accused of irregularities.

In his article the BJD MLA made a veiled attack on Naveen Patnaik's style of functioning while saying at the same time that the people of Odisha consider him as being different from other politicians and therefore, he has been ruling the state for over two decades. "Zero tolerance to corruption and probity in public life was the hall mark of Naveen Patnaik's principles since he entered into the politics and was the reason for which he (Naveen) won hearts of people,'' the article said.

Referring to a the alleged incidents and corruption in public life, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, who is also one of the vice-presidents of the party said, "Let BJD prove that Naveen Babu has not changed. That the ideologies for which he won the hearts of the people remain intact and that he is dedicated to the those past ideologies". Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, a former Congress MP had joined BJD in 2018, became a Rajya Sabha MP soon after and later contested the assembly elections in 2019.

He wrote that Naveen Patnaik's first two terms from 2000 to 2009 were marked by zero tolerance to crime and corruption. But the same was not visible in the subsequent years. "However, political convenience appears to be overpowering the ideology now. The easy winning of the polls and the successes of BJD in five consecutive terms have led the party's leaders to develop ego. And this ego has led to the squeezing of the principles of 'zero tolerance' to corruption and also probity in public life," Soumya Ranjan Patnaik said in the article. One should not forget that the absence of a viable political alternative in the state is also one of the factors behind the easy win of BJD in Odisha, wrote the lawmaker, who is also the younger brother of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik. The people of the state have gradually started realizing that Naveen Patnaik's 'zero tolerance' has become a ''victim of political expediency''. ''When winning elections become the sole aim of a political party, it is hard to maintain any ideology,'' he said in the article.

''They do not want Naveen Patnaik to change but keep their faith in him and his ideologies,'' he added. The article assumes significance as it came at the time when the opposition BJP and Congress are holding statewide agitations for the past several days demanding the removal of the Minister of State for Home D S Mishra for his alleged links with the prime accused in the lady teacher kidnapping and murder case. The two parties have alleged that the chief minister has been shielding Mishra. Their protests have become shriller as Naveen Patnaik, who holds the home portfolio, has not said a word so far on the controversy. Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, however, did not forget to wish the chief minister on his 75th birth day which was celebrated on October 16. The MLA had published a similar article in his daily in July this year attacking the state government over the actual number of deaths due to COVID-19. In August too he had criticized the chief minister for depending on two persons for his informations instead of taking feedback from different sources. Reacting to the article, BJD MLA Prasant Muduli has claimed that the Odisha has undergone a sea change under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik in over 20 years.

The article appears to have given BJP its much wanted ammunition against the BJD. "We were making the same allegations since a long and they (BJD) had rejected them on different grounds. Now their own party MLA has made it public," P Harichandan, the general secretary of BJP state unit said Congress legislator Sura Raoutray said ''Soumya Babu writes well and sometimes says the truth." PTI AAM KK KK KK

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)