BHUBANESWAR | Friday, May 29, 2009 | Email | Print | 
Why Cong injustice to Orissa continues?
PNS | Bhubaneswar
The Congress high command has perpetuated injustice to Orissa by inducting only one of the State’s six MPs, Srikant Jena, as a Minister of State without independent charge, ignoring his past record as a Cabinet-rank Minister at the Centre. But other States like Kerala have got at least two Ministerial berths.
Jena, who had been a three-time MP on the Janata Dal ticket, has already served both as Cabinet Minister and Minister of State. He was the Union Minister of State, Small Scale Industry, Agro and Rural Industries in 1989-90 and was the Union Cabinet Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Tourism in 1997-1998. During the HD Deve Gowda Government in 1997-98, he was considered as the most powerful Minister.
But on Thursday, Jena was administered oath of office and secrecy as a Minister of State. The humiliating part was that while petty juniors were given Cabinet berths, Jena was not given even independent charge.
Considered a close confidant of legendary leader Biju Patnaik, Jena had joined the Congress after the Janata Dal split in Orissa in December 1997, when the majority of the JD MLAs joined the BJD under the leadership of Biju’s son, Naveen Patnaik. He was imprisoned several times in Delhi for demanding a steel plant in Orissa and sent to prison for 19 months during the Emergency.
His first win was in the 1977 Assembly poll. He was a legislator till 1985. He was Minister of State, Industry, in 1977 in the Nilamani Routray Cabinet.
In the 1989 and 1991 Lok Sabha election, from Cuttack he defeated former Chief Minister JB Patnaik and his wife Jayanti Patnaik respectively. It was in 1996 that he shifted from Cuttack to Kendrapara. In the 2004 Lok Sabha election, he was defeated in Kendrapara by BJD nominee Archana Nayak. The astute politician changed his guard again and won the election from Balasore this time.
However, sharp public reaction came out and put the State Congress in a spot. Besides Jena, it did not even consider to take either Bhakta Charan Das or Hemananda Biswal in the Ministry.
The Congress did well in western Orissa in comparison to other parts of Orissa. Even AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi had visited this part in 2008 and promised to bring justice for the downtrodden people. But the thing totally changed. No one was included in the Ministry.
By doing this injustice, it has once again vindicated the stand of the BJD how the Congress is continuing to ignore the “just demand” of the State over the years.
The BJD, the regional party which was formed in 1997, has marched ahead and consolidated its position by making only one allegation that the Congress-led Central Government has pushed the various demands of the State to the backburner and ignored the State’s interest.
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