It another day when BJD leaders from Minister Subrat Tarai to party district committee president Anannda Mohanty and chiefs of sundry frontal organisations affiliated to the BJD admitted that suspended party leader and MP Pyarimohan Mohapatra is their ideologue and Rourkela MlA Sarada Prasad Nayak is the real political hero in Sundargarh.
An ace strategist, he has been organising his followers in the length and breadth of the State to show his strength after being axed from BJD. Initially his claim was to put BJD on right track which he claims has gone astray because of the policies followed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and a few of his party leaders but in course of time his intention gradually revealed his political ambition.
There is no denying of the fact that during the heyday of former Minister and local MlA Sarada Nayak, who is known as a disciple of Mohapatra, the district unit of BJD was completely under the command and control of the duo. Even though Chief Minister Patnaik was officially considered the party president, it was Mohapatra and Nayak who held sway. However, the situation went for a topsy-turvy after the May 29, 2012 event.
The local leaders and workers who were rallying behind the duo suddenly began speaking against them. Nayak was criticized for handling the district unit as his fiefdom.
Even a section of disgruntled leaders, who had been in the wilderness and were feeling insecure during Nayak’s hegemony, openly came against him and Mohapatra for their conspiracy against the Chief Minister to oust him from power. They pledged their support for Patnaik and tried to revive their position once again in the party.
When Tarai was inducted into the Ministry, the split in the party unit was all but open with a section supporting Tarai and another Nayak. Tarai might have stolen the march after being inducted into the Ministry but, as the political analysts observe, his leadership has failed to inspire party workers and sympathisers for long. Even the dynamism of Mangala Kissan and Dilip Tirkey is also no match with Sarada, feel the political thinkers here. On the other hand, there is a feeling in the city that the Rourkela Municipality chairperson and Zilla Parishad president are rallying behind Sarada.
That is why, many leaders who had alienated from Nayak and joined Tarai group, are now on a homecoming mode. Perhaps this process has been getting momentum since the visit of Chief Minister Patnaik to Sundargarh. Even apart from holding a public meeting in Bonei which was a great success in contrast to Kutra where Tarai was directly monitoring everything involving Mangala Kissan, the majority of party leaders and supporters were again rallying behind Sarada and it has been again and again proved on the Biju Jayanti and the International Women’s day celebration.
One thing is clear: Many BJD leaders are feeling that Tarai is no match for Nayak and hence are trying to switch their side for the latter. So at this juncture, in order to counter Sarada, a third leader having good reputation with clean image should emerge and every support should be extended to him from Bhubaneswar, feel the political observers here.
