Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who stood tall in national politics in recent times because of his firm grounding as a strong and stable regional force, has suddenly found himself in a precarious position.
The purported “coup” bid against his leadership by his erstwhile “mentor”, “adviser” and party Rajya Sabha member Pyarimohan Mohapatra on May 29, and subsequent events have clearly indicate that Mr Patnaik, who has been ruling the state for over 12 years now, stands on a porous pedestal.
Though he strong-handedly put down the rebellion by suspending Pyarimohan and two MLAs and dismissing two of his Cabinet colleagues on Friday, the threat perception to his position has increased manifold, say experts.
Contrary to the popular perception that Mr Patnaik is the absolute master of his government and his party BJD, it was bureaucrat-turned-politician Pyarim-ohan who virtually called the shots in both the administration and the organisation. Mr Patnaik’s ignorance of the language of the land and his “disinterests’ to mingle with party MLAs and workers provided an opportunity to Mr Mohapatra to get closer to the BJD activists. Starting from ministers and MLAs to party workers saw him the ventilator of their grievances.
Since it came to power in the state in 2000, the BJD went on improving its seats tally in every Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Fondly called Chanakya for his political acumen, he stunned his opponents when the BJD formed councils in 28 of the 30 districts this year after thumping wins in panchayat polls. Mr Patnaik sensed trouble from the RS member after panchayat polls early this year. A few party MPs reportedly convinced him that Mr Mohapatra may usurp power because of his strong support base at the grassroots.