By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Call it double standard of BJD Supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in dealing with political adversaries. One yardstick for erstwhile BJD veterans like right from Nalin Mohanty-Bijay Mohapatra to Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda-Dama Rout and another yardstick for outsiders, who later joined the Regional outfit hoping a little political growth of their already dead career in the State, largely ruled by Patnaik’s BJD since 2000. BJD MLA Soumiya Patnaik write ups, clearly speaks, that Chief Minister’s Office and as well as Chief Minister Patnaik himself not reachable to all and only available for few selected IAS officers led by VK Pandian and Party leaders led by Party’s Jajpur MLA Babby Das alias Pranab Prakash Das.
Soumiya Patnaik’s outburst, who is also a Party MLA and owns powerful media group of Sambad and Eastern Media Limited, not only exposed Naveen Patnaik’s other side but also exposed how IAS officer and selected party leaders manipulating the Government policy decisions and covering ups the misdeeds of selected Bureaucrats. The ruling Party MLA accused the government of under-reporting deaths due to COVID-19 and demanded that the government issue a white paper on the COVID-19 deaths.
Soumiya Patnaik’s regular column in his Sambad portraying Chief Minister’s other side in handling both Government and Party affairs seems acknowledged by other leaders, since not a single talkative and hyper active in Twitter and Facebook leaders, vent their anger on Sambad Editor and Party’s Kandapada MLA for his open outburst.
Only government chief whip Pramila Mallick had rubbished the charge that the government had concealed COVID-19-related deaths. “I want to ask those who are pointing fingers at the government to reveal how we are fudging the data,” she had said, challenging the government’s critics
In recent years, Damodar Rout switched his sides several times but Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda proved himself as a constituent and capable leader with BJP top brasses continuing their faith on him with assigning Party’s National VP in Charge of Assam and Delhi and Panda is expected to get a Rajya Sabha berth from somewhere in India’s North-East by November and December this years , which will see vacancies of seats of around 6 to 7 in Upper House quota.
