Naveen Patnaik
By Debi Mohanty*
Bhubaneswar: It’s a classic case of being so close yet so far for Naveen Patnaik. Consider this – barely seventy-odd days in power would have seen him creating history as the longest-ruling chief minister of a state surpassing Sikkim’s Pawan Kumar Chamling. He had been Odisha’s CM since March 5, 2000. However, with the defeat of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Naveen’s rule is now part of Odisha’s political history.
To be fair, though it was discussed that the 2024 elections may not be a cakewalk for the ruling BJD, no one ever imagined that Naveen would be thrown out of power by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Corruption, anti-incumbency has hardly been a factor in Odisha since 2000. His frugal lifestyle, adorable smile and his decisions were all loved by the people of Odisha. He is a bachelor. He didn’t speak Odia, the language of the masses but no one cared about it. Whenever any allegation surfaced against his government, the people blamed others for them. Naveen was above suspicion. No one stood a chance on the face of Naveen’s enviable popularity, Even during the 2014 and 2019 elections, when the Narendra Modi wave swept across the country, Odisha stood solidly behind Naveen’s BJD.
According to senior journalist Bighneswar Sahu, a couple of major factors caused Naveen’s downfall. “Naveen paid the price, perhaps because of overconfidence (that Odiyas will always vote for him) and his failure to read the writings on the wall -increasing disenchantment of the people which gave the BJP a big opportunity on a platter,” observed Sahu.
It all started post 2019 with Naveen’s trusted bureaucrat VK Pandian- a Tamilnadu-born 2000 batch Odisha cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, taking centre stage. It offered the BJP an issue which it gleefully latched on to.
Posted in the Chief Minister’s Office in 2011, Naveen’s private secretary Pandian was widely perceived as the man who controlled the administration. Though many said, he-operating from the four walls of the CMO- also exercised hid influence on the BJD’s affairs, no one complained as Naveen, in the absence of a powerful opposition, easily won successive polls.
It was only after Naveen began his uninterrupted fifth innings as CM in 2019, that the spectacle changed and what was hitherto being discussed around, looked to be true.
In the beginning, Pandian would move around to take stock of ongoing projects. However, later on, using the state chopper, he dashed around the state and addressed BJD-sponsored meetings in all the 147 assembly constituencies of the state. Videos of very senior leaders of the party overseeing the preparations of such events, and even controlling the crowd, went viral.
Only, pictures and videos of Naveen with Pandian standing behind him adored the media, though. Meanwhile, rumours about the 77-year-old Naveen’s health did the rounds.
With access to Naveen denied, BJD leaders had no option but to follow Pandian’s orders. “I have tried many times, but not been able to meet the CM for two years,” a five-time BJD legislator had complained in 2023.
Even the public perception grew stronger that no one could meet him without the consent of Pandian. With no second-run leadership in the BJD, Pandian was discussed as Naveen’s possible successor. After Pandian’s voluntary retirement from service, last year, people in villages as well as cities joked that Odisha is going to witness Tamil rule.
Also read: Can women voters ditch Naveen and shift allegiance to Modi?
Not only the opposition parties – the BJP and the Congress – kept on criticising Naveen as to how a serving bureaucrat wielded so much power and acted like a political functionary, even criticisms came from within the BJD ranks.
However, the reticent Naveen continued to maintain his silence. Rather, he sidelined those BJD leaders who were raising their voices.
Though Naveen stated that he had sent the Chief Minister’s Officer (CMO) to the people to listen to address grievances issues, very few were convinced.
The BJP’s rise in Odisha
Well before the rise of the Pandian factor in Odisha politics, the BJP began working relentlessly to strengthen its base in the coastal state, particularly after the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came into power in the centre in 2014.
Incidentally, in his first two terms (2000-2009), Naveen-who was briefly a cabinet minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee’s NDA government- headed the BJD-BJP coalition government in Odisha.
However, the BJD parted ways with the BJP following the infamous 2008 Kandhamal riots. The BJD, as it claimed, maintained equal distance from the corrupt Congress and Communal BJP.
Contesting alone for the first time in 2009, the BJD pocketed 103 seats against 27 (Congress) and six (BJP) in the 147-seat Odisha assembly. Out of the 21 Lok Sabha seats, the BJD bagged 14, while the Congress won six and the CPI, 1.
The regional outfit, even fared better in the next-2014 polls (117 assembly and 20 Lok Sabha seats), too.
However, things took a turn in 2014. With the emergence of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, Odisha came on the radar of the BJP. Several senior BJD leaders were quizzed by the central agencies and a few even served jail terms for their alleged involvement in the multi-thousand crore chit fund scam. Though pushed onto the back foot, the BJD put up a brave face. But one could notice a shift in its stance towards the BJP. Subsequently, the bonhomie between the two parties was on show and the BJD bailed out the NDA government in the passage of contentious bills in the Parliament.
A retired IAS officer who was considered close to Naveen recalled that during a chat one evening in late 2008, the CM had said that he didn’t want to have any relation ‘with the communal people’.
“I could clearly notice that he was unhappy. It’s hard to believe that the same person changed so swiftly,” intoned the ex-bureaucrat.
Meanwhile, the BJP boosted its strength in the state. Senior leaders including the party president and union ministers made repeated trips to galvanise the grassroots workers, while the state leaders tried to raise local issues.
Apart from here and there, the BJP enjoyed a fairly strong support base in the western belt of Odisha which has 6 Lok Sabha and 42 assembly seats. However, for it, the biggest challenge was to have a toehold, particularly in the all-important coastal region, home to 10 Lok Sabha and 70 assembly seats. Nevertheless, silently, it pursued its mission in Odisha.
The result: BJP did exceedingly well in the 2017 three-tier panchayat polls. Buoyed with the results, the party fought aggressively in the 2019 elections. The persistent efforts on the ground paid rich dividends: with 23 assembly seats, the BJP became the principal opposition party. In the process, it had inched the Congress to the third position. Also, its Lok Sabha tally in Odisha grew to 8 and more importantly, the saffron party witnessed a big leap in its vote share – 32 per cent as compared to 18 per cent five years ago.
Alarmed at the sudden saffron upsurge, Naveen tried new tricks. In his fifth term, never known as overtly religious, Naveen- announced big-ticket plans for the development of temples, across the state.
It all began with the ambitious Shrimandir Parikrama project in Puri (the abode of Lord Jagannath). The government announced it would transform Puri into a world heritage city.
It was followed by a similar large plan for the Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar and other well-known temples around the state. Interestingly, the government generously opened its purse strings for even temples in villages.
On the other hand, the BJD-BJP camaraderie continued to remain cosy. Even up until a month before the 2024 polls, both parties were negotiating to contest the elections together. That somehow failed.
And the Naveen era ended.
*Senior journalist
