Odisha Chief Minister and supremo of the Biju Janata Dal Naveen Patnaik turns 68 today. Here is an earlier piece from The Quint on what makes him stronger than ever in Odisha as he remains in power for the fifteenth year.
It is an unequal battle, for sure. On one hand, there is the dishevelled, demoralised Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Odisha, repeatedly embarrassed by the party’s Central leaders’ growing bonhomie with Naveen Patnaik. BJP is desperately trying to stay relevant with a token satyagraha against the alleged misdeeds of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government on Gandhi Jayanti day. On the other hand is the well-oiled party machine of the ruling BJD, working in clockwork precision to make sure it reaches the last mile – and the last voter – during its annual ‘Jan Sampark’ padayatra from October 2 to October 11, the anniversary of Jayaprakash Narayan.
With the Odisha Congress having already chickened out of a triangular show of strength, the BJP now remains the lone, though feeble, challenge to the might of the ruling party in the Gandhi Jayanti sweepstakes. Far from losing public support, the BJD looks stronger than it ever has before in its 15 uninterrupted years in power.
But what exactly is it that makes the BJD – its supremo Naveen Patnaik, to be more precise – tick?
Supremacy That Can’t Be Challenged
There are many reasons for the pre-eminent position that Naveen has enjoyed in the politics of the state in his decade and a half rule. The fact remains that the people of the state find no one in the other two major parties – either the Congress or the BJP – of his stature.
He is someone whose appeal cuts across barriers of region, caste and factions and one who commands the unquestioned loyalty of every party member. The streak of ruthlessness in him has made sure that every possibility of an opposition, real or imaginary, is snuffed out even before it takes shape, and every opponent banished into political wilderness.
Even as he remains the most inaccessible chief minister in the history of the state, Naveen has successfully created the perception that he is with the people. He has done this through a series of sops that take care of practically every stage of the poor man’s life – from birth to death. If the ‘Mamata Yojana’ provides an incentive for expecting mothers, the ‘Harishchandra Yojana’ takes care of the funeral expenses of the dead. In between, there are free school uniforms, bicycles and laptops for the students and Re 1/kg rice, free medicines and an array of pensions for the grown-ups.
An Uninterrupted Regime
- BJP in Odisha desperately trying to stay relevant with a token satyagraha against the BJD government on Gandhi Jayanti day
- Naveen Patnaik popular among masses through various incentive-based schemes
- Even a slew of scams have been unable to dent Naveen Patnaik’s image
- Naveen knows how to go about the national parties at the state level and at the centre
- Odisha CM has abandoned use of Odia in a bid to reach out to people without any pretence
Development, Courtesy Naveen
Many of these schemes are merely repackaged versions of the programmes being run by the Centre with the Naveen brand etched firmly on them. For years, he even managed to pass off the 108 ambulance service launched under the centrally funded JNNURM programme as his ‘gift’ to the people. The NDA government called his bluff after coming to power last year. But the people could not care less. For them, whatever comes to them – roads, water, electricity etc – comes, courtesy Naveen. The BJD party machinery, with some welcome contribution from the local administration, has helped perpetuate this myth.
Ironically, Naveen Patnaik has managed to perpetuate another myth – that of being Mr Clean – despite the fact that some of the biggest scams in the history of the state took place under him. The mining scam (worth at least Rs 60,000 crores) and the chit fund scam (worth at least Rs 10,000 crores) are only the biggest of the lot; the list could go on and on.
But the scams have not dented his spotless image one bit. The poor, who constitute the majority, are too busy collecting their freebies to bother about the scams and the rich are too busy counting their benefits from the scams to complain about them.
Approach Towards Political Adversaries
Naveen Patnaik came into politics rather late in the day. But when it comes to the practice of realpolitik, he can teach a lesson or two to people who are decades senior to him. For ten years, he enjoyed the best of relations with the UPA government at the Centre even as his party fought the Congress tooth and nail in the state. The Congress leadership’s willingness – indeed, eagerness – to sup with him took the sting out of its state unit’s fight against the BJD supremo.
Contrary to expectations, what one is seeing since the NDA government took office is a virtual rerun of his time-tested ‘Friends in Delhi, Enemies in Odisha’ policy, leaving state BJP leaders red-faced.
Subterfuge of Language
People outside Odisha may find it hard to comprehend the phenomenon. But far from being a liability, his ignorance of Odia has simply been lapped up by the electorate. One just has to see the crowd go into raptures the moment he starts making mincemeat of the language while reading from a script written in Roman to believe this. No one has understood this phenomenon better than Naveen, who has now abandoned for good all pretensions of trying to learn the language spoken in the state.
On a recent visit to Odisha for the launch of his book Achhe Din? Ha! Ha!!, Mani Shankar Aiyar earned the wrath of his party members for saying that, given the sorry state of both the Congress and the BJP in the state, Naveen could romp home again in 2019.
But he was merely stating what is obvious to anyone with an ear to the ground.
(Writer is a senior Bhubaneswar-based journalist and has reported for the BBC for the last twenty years.)
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