The Biju Janata Dal on Tuesday removed Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, a ruling party MLA and editor of the largest circulated Odia daily, Sambad, from the post of party’s Vice President following his criticism of a State-wide tour across all districts by V.K. Pandian, private secretary to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The ‘disciplinary’ action against Mr. Patnaik, who represents the Khandapada Assembly Constituency, was on the expected line as he had accused Mr. Pandian, known to be a close aide to the Odisha CM, of meddling in State politics.
In a series of editorials, Mr. Patnaik raised concerns regarding the frequent tours by Mr. Pandian. In his editorials, Mr. Patnaik had alleged that the tours looked more akin to political meetings than a bureaucrat’s visit with BJD MLAs and Ministers preparing the stage for Mr. Pandian’s arrival.
Mr. Patnaik had also raised governance issues by asking why huge funds were spent for Mr. Pandian’s meetings, apparently meant to redress unresolved issues, when there were already grievance redressal mechanisms in place at the district level.
“One liners such as atmabibhor sachiba, asahaya mantri [euphoric secretary, helpless ministers] and sachiba bada na mantri bada [who is more greater — secretary or minister] were hotly debated among general public. The BJD leadership was concerned that his editorials had shown the party in a bad light,” said Rabi Das, a veteran journalist and political analyst.
Mr. Das said the BJD government was rarely criticised in the State and the criticism in the editorials had actually helped fuel anti-incumbency on the ground.
Responding to his sacking from the post of vice president, the Khandapada MLA Mr. Patnaik said, “it is discretion of the party supremo as to whom he should pick as his colleague. The post of the party vice president was bestowed on me by him and was taken away by him as well. No one should be surprised.”
“I don’t think I have lost anything following my removal from the post vice president. I did not have any work profile as vice president. Many senior leaders in BJD are holding important positions, they do nothing. The post was only cosmetic,” Mr. Patnaik added.
The senior leader said, “It needs to be noted that the sacking letter was signed by BJD President Naveen Patnaik. I doubt if the signature is genuine or fake. A week ago, I had sought an appointment of two minutes with the CM. I was not given the appointment but I did get a sacking order.”
Reacting to the sacking, senior BJD leader Pranab Prakash Das, “Gratitude is the best medium of prayer. Where there is no gratitude, Gods also do not help. Jai Jagannath [Hail Jagannath].”
Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Indian National Congress too have taken potshots at Mr. Pandian alleging that he was operating like a politician while still continuing as a government officer.
