A deepening dent

At the last Biju Janata Dal (BJD) legislative party meeting, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik provided a clear indication that he may have made up his mind to go in for an early Assembly poll. “This could be your last winter session. Gear up and work hard,” he told his MLAs. Is the Pyari Mohan Mohapatra factor weighing on the CM?

Naveen’s adviser-turned-adversary has lost no opportunity to chip away at his clean image, hurling one damning allegation after another at the BJD government. It is being speculated that Naveen wants to go the polls almost a year ahead of schedule so that Pyari Mohan cannot do more damage.

Naveen may be fearful of his popularity being undermined and of the BJD falling a victim to the anti-incumbency factor. He has been ruling the state for the last 12 years. Pyari Mohan was part of Naveen’s “inner circle” for over a decade and was privy to inside information that could prove detrimental to the CM’s prospects in the next state Assembly election.

“As the election to the state Assembly draws closer, the worries of the CM are certainly growing. He is now passing through the most negative phase of his political career,” observes senior political journalist Naveen Das.
The most recent embarrassment for the BJD is the Supreme Court’s direction to Pyari Mohan to continue as an independent member of the Rajya Sabha. Pyari Mohan had moved the Apex Court seeking a directive to BJD president Naveen Patnaik to immediately intimate in writing his status to the Rajya Sabha. The party president had announced his suspension on June 1 and thereafter the BJD executive committee expelled him on November 16. However, this decision was not intimated to the Rajya Sabha, thereby letting Pyari Mohan continue as a party MP in the Parliament records, which practically made him non-functional as a member.

The Supreme Court interim order apparently came as a shocker for the BJD leadership, and most party leaders were at a loss to explain why Pyari Mohan's expulsion was not communicated to the Rajya Sabha. Pyari Mohan, on his part, apprehended that without seeking judicial relief, he might eventually fall into Naveen's trap and lose his Rajya Sabha membership on the grounds of defying the party whip. Mangala Kisan, the BJD leader in the Rajya Sabha, recently served a party whip on all party MPs, except him, to participate in and vote during the FDI debate.

Though the Naveen-Pyari Mohan tussle began much earlier, it was restricted within the party. The May 29 episode made it public and a new twist emerged in state politics. It was alleged that Pyari Mohan attempted to topple the Naveen government with the help of some MLAs when the CM was on a foreign trip. Naveen immediately suspended Pyari Mohan, who was his closest aide and regarded as the ‘second power centre’ since the party came to power in 2000.

The expelled leader immediately retaliated: “My suspension is illegal. It has not been communicated to me officially. I have not received any letter regarding the suspension. Patnaik has ceased to be the BJD president since July 2010. According to the constitution of the party, the president has to call the meeting of the party executive every six months. But he has not called the meeting of the party council or executive in the last two years and nine months.”

Pyari Mohan took a step forward and formed a political forum, Odisha Jana Morcha (OJM). He declared that OJM is a “movement to reform and cleanse the BJD of all unconstitutional and undesirable forces”. Naveen came down heavily. He convened a meeting of the BJD state executive and expelled Pyari Mohan on November 16 for his alleged involvement in anti-party activities. Amiya Pandav, spokesperson of OJM, says, “Naveen Patnaik had hatched a conspiracy against our leader to deny him his rights, but the move failed. The OJM will continue to fight to cleanse the BJD from the shackles of unconstitutional elements.”

As the political sniping got worse,  Pyari Mohan left no stone unturned to put the Naveen Patnaik government in a spot. Revelation of the state government’s order to tap around 5,000 telephones used by politicians and journalists is another embarrassment. According to sources, nearly 4,620 telephone subscribers have been enlisted for phone tapping from December 2009 to September 2012. Interestingly, while the phones of 4,000 people were tapped from March 2012, the remaining  620 telephone numbers were tapped in the last three years.

Exposing this startling fact, Pyari Mohan alleged: “The citizens' right to privacy has been infringed upon. The telephones of politicians and journalists who are seen as close to me have been tapped.” The OJM demanded publication of a list of all calls that had been tapped, with the exception of those related to security and Naxal-related issues.

Recently, Mohapatra also exposed the state government’s alleged involvement in a ransom deal with Maoists for the release of abducted collector R. Vineel Krishna and legislator Jhinna Hikaka. Referring to an interview of the Maoist interlocutor Dandapani Mohanty, he says, “If this allegation is true, it is indeed very dangerous.”

The Maoist mediator had alleged that the Naveen Patnaik government had offered Rs 4 crore to the Maoists for the release of R Vineel Krishna and Rs 2 crore in return for the Laxmipur BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka. While the first ransom sum was paid through three secretaries of the state government, the second payment was made through a minister in Naveen's team.

Pyari Mohan further tried to rip the pro-trader mask off Naveen’s face by writing an open letter to him criticising his stand on FDI in the retail sector. He said that the Chief Minister had invited Reliance Fresh to start retail business in the state, but he is now protesting against FDI in retail. The state government has allegedly given land to the Reliance in the capital and at a prime location in Berhampur without considering the welfare of small businessmen and vendors. Similarly, at a public meeting in Koraput, Pyari Mohan claimed that he has a Brahmastra (a weapon) which would expose those behind the controversial Odisha Mining Corporation-Sainik deal.

However, countering the allegations, health and family welfare minister Damodar Rout says, “Why is Pyari babu saying all this today? Why didn't he reveal all this when the alleged irregularities happened? He was at the helm of affairs for the last 12 years. I will say that he is the architect of all the scams in the state as he was associated with the Chief Minister for 12 years."

Similarly, former minister and BJD legislator Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak says, “People know what is what. When an OJM worker in southern Odisha was arrested while carrying weapons for Maoists and questions were raised regarding Pyari Mohan's Maoist links, he spoke about a ransom deal with Maoists. The OJM's allegations can’t influence the people of Odisha, who know how clean and honest Naveen Patnaik is. If the state goes in for early polls, the BJD will definitely win.”

But political analysts hold another view. Says senior commentator Naveen Das, “There is a popular saying – when two friends quarrel, the third one benefits. The tussle between Naveen and Pyari Mohan will be directly beneficial to the Congress in the state. As the main objective of the OJM is to topple Naveen, Pyari Mohan will leave no stone unturned to defeat BJD candidates. We should not forget that Pyari was the chief strategist and election manager of BJD in the last election. So he is well aware of the strengths and weakness of the ruling party in different constituencies. When the anti-Congress vote is split in Odisha, it will be easier for the Congress candidates to win.”

The Congress camp is naturally happy with this development. They are hopeful of returning to power in the coming election. The vice president of the state Congress unit, Sivananda Ray says, “The scams in mining, coal and many other sectors have blown the lid off. The people of the state will reject Naveen Patnaik this time around.”

The Pyari Mohan factor is definitely queering the pitch for the Odisha CM. It remains to be seen whether the Congress can actually derive any real electoral benefit from the threat that BJD faces from the former party insider.