SHOCKINGlY BOTCHED BRAHMA PARIVARTAN: TEMPlE ADMINISTRATOR AT THE WHEEl BUT NOT STEERING
Since the ritual is conducted in the most secretive manner by the select Daitapatis, the temple administration has no control over it." So said the master of weasel words Suresh Mohapatra, Chief Administrator (CA) of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), in his first comments on the almighty mess created over Brahma Parivartan. If the SJTA has no control, why has he ordered an inquiry into itIJ The more one reads about the surreal sequence of events surrounding the appallingly executed Brahma Parivartan the worse it gets. It all started with the much-fanfared Banajaga Yatra. The way the royalty among the Daitapatis were indulged by the SJTA, mishaps were bound to happen. The CA, a Daitapati-loving softie, catered to every whim and fancy of the heavy breathers among the lot. He tripped over himself in pleasing the ever capricious servitors in all possible manners. Some Daitapatis are a law onto themselves and the CA is an easy meat for them. These Daitapatis, who had never experienced such pampering by a fawning SJTA, went berserk with the new carte blanche given to them. And what did they do with itIJ They did what the beggar did once he was set on the horseback. He rode straight to the Devil. Second, why did the CA not take steps to prevent scores of Daitapatis from entering the templeIJ Nothing demonstrates his incompetence better than his failure to stop the marauders from invading the temple precincts. His sources and intelligence failed him and he acted blindfold. Third, even the selection of carpenters was shoddily done. And to compound the problem, the CA did nothing to stop the meddlesome Daitapatis indulging in one-upmanship with the carpenters. From whichever angle one looks at the tragedy, the CA is at the centre of it. His policy of appeasement has consistently overlooked exasperating delays in temple rituals and criminal misbehaviour of some predatory Daitapatis against the devotees. That hands-off policy has come home to roost. Ordering an inquiry by the head of the Daitapati association will only be a wild goose chase. He will never find the smoking gun, much less the body parts. It will be like self-assessment by a notorious tax cheat. Daitapatis are a close-knit clan with an extraordinary freemasonry among them even though they are sometimes at each other’s throat. Their currency among the people is at a historic low following the dreadful hash they made of Brahma Parivartan. The maths of a successful Nabakalebar looks daunting with the CA sleeping at the wheel. As long as he remains putty in the hands of a coterie of Daitapatis, he can’t locate his spine and exercise his independent judgement. Not for nothing the Shankaracharya of Puri is gunning for this laidback CA. Even Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, as much as his soft nature would allow him, disapproved of the way the CA handled the situation. The boil of anarchy needs lancing. But Mohapatra is definitely not the right surgeon.
HIGH COURT CHECKMATES CHIEF MINISTER NAVEEN PATNAIK’S WIlD REVANCHISM
The High Court’s quashing of the Vigilance case against Prakash Mishra, former DGP of Odisha and now DG of CRPF, is a resounding slap on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Even a cat in the street knows that he was the one who maliciously conceived and diabolically executed a hideous plan to ensnare Mishra in a Vigilance case when he was being considered for selection as the CBI Director. It reeked of such wanton vindictiveness and the stench of mischief was so suffocating that the court had, from the very beginning of hearing, ordered that the case against Mishra would not be a bar on his future postings. It is another matter Mishra missed his chance to be CBI Director though many suspect he was bypassed in a stitch-up deal between Patnaik and the Modi Government. But Patnaik’s hot pursuit of him appalled the civil society. By directing the mighty State machinery to hunt down, in Kafkaesque manner, an honest and upright officer he displayed a sense of revenge few knew existed in him in that lethal form. At every stage of the destruction of truth and fact, the Government had lied fluently that Mishra was responsible for the loss of money suffered by the Police Housing and Welfare Corporation under his stewardship. But the court did not find a shred of evidence. Its withering remarks should make Patnaik do penance for his vicious behaviour in hounding an innocent and upright officer. No one quite knows why, at the beginning of his current term as Chief Minister, the two top dogs of his administration, the Chief Secretary and the DGP, came in the crosshairs of his anger. While the CS rushed hotfoot to the Centre to escape his rage, the hapless DGP, not so lucky to flee, bore the brunt of his uncontrolled wrath. Patnaik first humiliated Mishra by transferring him to a lowly position and then personally blocking his deputation to the Centre. Only when the Union Home Minister read the riot act to him did he release Mishra on Central deputation. But he still enmeshed Mishra in a fake Vigilance case and managed to spoil his career growth. Only an ‘an avatar of evil’ can do it.
BJP’S TRIBAl-WOOING MUST MOVE BEYOND OPTICS
The two-day extravaganza of the BJP Scheduled Tribes Morcha in the capital last week saw a gaggle of national-level leaders of the party rant against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s anti-tribals policies. The lachrymose among them could not stop controlling their emotions over the tribals’ wretched conditions. The objective was to galvanise the State’s 24% tribal population into action, under BJP platform, against Patnaik’s continued neglect of them even though the Centre is pouring money for their development. And who better than Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram, a native of the State, to lead the crusadeIJ But people ask why did he not hold the meeting where the tribals really liveIJ More than half of them live in the three districts of Koraput (undivided), Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj. Had the conference been held in Koraput from where the new convert Giridhar Gamang comes, the Morcha’s objectives would have been subserved in a far more meaningful way. But the organisers chose Bhubaneswar, hundreds of miles away from the tribal heartland. That alone shows how skin-deep their much-trumpeted love for the tribals is. What the tribals need is concrete action for their economic development, not stunts like shedding copious quantities of crocodile tears under media klieg lights. Playing the same cracked gramophone records of injustice against them in faraway places only solidifies their cynicism and disillusionment. The “party with a difference” should have done it differently, to say the least.
CONGRESS ON A ROAD TO NOWHERE
With the BJD firmly ensconced in power and facing no foreseeable threat to it, the current math is about who will be in the No 2 position. The BJP is cashing in on its position at the Centre to unnerve the BJD at times and even hopes to unseat it at the next elections. So many of its leaders are moving back and forth that it gives the impression it will leave no stone unturned to capture power in the State. The Congress, however, is imploding. No matter what its leaders say for public consumption, Giridhar Gamang’s exit was undoubtedly a body blow to the party. Rahul Gandhi’s plan for the party’s Odisha unit is in tatters. To showcase the party’s breadth of appeal and pluralism, he had appointed young Prasad Harichandan as PCC president and experienced Narasingha Mishra as leader of Opposition. To add flavour to the experiment, he had taken care to ensure that the State’s two distinct geographical divides are adequately represented in the new leadership structure. Harichandan was expected to bring freshness and dynamism while Mishra was to provide wise counsel for the party’s directionless and often fissiparous members. But nothing seems to be working. The party is as disoriented as ever. Gamang’s exit and, to rub salt into the wound, his rejection of Sonia Gandhi’s invite, shines a spotlight on the dire straits of the party. Harichandan wishfully thinks that the party’s sorry state is like the darkest hour before the dawn and the dawn is about to break, which is why he keeps smiling amidst ruins. But sombre Mishra is old school in a lot of what he thinks and what he does. He is a straightforward politician who does not understand much of political intrigues and manoeuvring. He is largely seen by the party’s rank and file as over the hills. The Congress high command’s hope that some pie in the sky miracle will happen through fusion of the young and old still remains unfulfilled. The wind can be seen departing the Congress’ sails. Only the optimistic and the deluded would believe that the party can recapture its lost glory. The BJP is miles ahead of it in the race for the No 2 position.