Odisha: BJD Editor-Lawmakers Embarrass Party And Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik

Two signed editorials by two editor-lawmakers of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) within days of each other have embarrassed the ruling party in Odisha more than anything done by the Opposition in the recent past. Together, the two write ups have provided enough fodder for speculation that all is not well within the ruling party.

First, Khandapada MLA and editor of leading Odia daily ‘Sambad’, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik wrote a piece on the front page of his daily on Thursday titled “Shrenire Pratham Hela Pare bi Kapi?” (loosely translated as “Malpractice even after standing first in class?”) as part of his column “Ama Gharara Haalachaal”) putting the Naveen Patnaik government in the dock over the issue of fudging Covid deaths in the state. Though the editorial tries to give party supremo and Chief Minister the benefit of doubt by putting the blame on bureaucrats, no one missed where the barb was aimed at. The title itself was a giveaway. There is little doubt that it was nothing short of an act of sacrilege in a party where people have been shown the door for much less. The under reporting of casualties due to Covid has been the subject of animated discussion in public since the first wave of the pandemic last year. But when a senior leader of the ruling party, who is also an MLA, raises doubt about the ‘official’ death figures, it certainly dents the credibility of the government in the public eye.

Barely three days later, Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahatab stirred a hornet’s nest with his piece “Dalare Bhinnamata Kana Neta Birodhi” (“Is a difference of opinion in the party against the leader”) as part of his column “Dhwani Pratidhwani” in the daily ‘Prajatantra’, which lashed out at the tendency to dub any difference of opinion as ‘anti-party’ and ‘anti-leader’. Though Mahatab does not name any party, it is hard to miss the drift. Just two excerpts would suffice to know that the write up, in its essence, was a dig at the lack of internal democracy in the BJD. “If the party is in power, then a few know-all officers decide government policy which is then thrust on the party as its policy…Most parties now are leader centric and are run like private enterprises with the help of a few managers.”

If Patnaik and Mahatab have got away with speaking their mind in a party that deems anything less than total, unquestioning loyalty as blasphemy, the reason perhaps lies in their stature. The fact that they are both editors of vernacular newspapers has certainly helped. Mahatab is a six-time BJD MP from Cuttack and has excelled as a parliamentarian in his six terms, winning the best parliamentarian award in 2017. Patnaik, in contrast, joined the ruling party only on the eve of the 2019 elections and was promptly given a party ticket from the Khandapada assembly constituency. But what has given him immunity from ‘disciplinary’ action so far is the fact that he owns and edits not just ‘Sambad’, the No. 1 Odia daily, but also heads ‘Kanak TV’, a leading TV channel.

It remains to be seen, however, if the two leaders continue with their thinly veiled barbs at the state of affairs in the party and government and how long a rope they are given by the leader.