A quid pro quo pact!
The cat was out of the bag when Jaul Oram said the Central Government has let the State Government off in many issues including chit fund and mining scams. Had it not been so the CBI would have already finished them off. He added in his usual style that the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD Government would have fallen by now if the investigation into the two major scams had been carried out in full vigour.
Oram later sought to water down his remarks when he realized the implication of his statement, but fact remains that there is a secret deal between the Central Government leadership and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik which can be gauged from the political conduct of BJD MPs in both Houses of Parliament. Presence of NDA Government is abysmally minor in the Rajya Sabha and for smooth passage of bills it can make compromises and, for that matter any political party in Government is an all time truth. The Opposition is right if it terms it as ‘quid pro quo pact’ between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Patnaik.
The seriousness of Oram’s remark might have been diluted in the midst of a cacophony created by the Opposition on the Prime Minister’s unscheduled visit to Pakistan and the Pathankot incident, but Oram still runs the risk of a high level scrutiny and may pay for this ‘off the cuff’ remarks. Knowing Oram well as we do, he never minces word. The party could have chewed and digested such remarks had he not been a Minister. Unable to fathom the gravity of his statement in the ministerial capacity, repentance will hardly melt ice in these political cool winter months, especially when the shells have gone out of the cannon.
Sanjay Vs lulu
Chhatra Congress is pelting eggs and tomatoes at Food and Civil Supplies Minster Sanjay Dasburma’s car. Brahmagiri MlA Dasburma is among the young brigade of Naveen’s Cabinet having a clean image despite a huge scope of corruption in the departments under his ministries. The incident smacks of political rivalry and everybody knows who his rival is. That Chhatra Congress is being used for settling a political score with him is no longer a secret. Former Congress MlA lulu Mohapatra’s certificate to Chhatra Congress for opposing Dasburma straightway puts him on the dock for the alleged violence. The suspicion gets stronger as he had lost the Brahmagiri election in the political battle with Dasburma and the Congress intolerance for the latter is reflected in a couple of incidents in succession. The earlier incident was a showdown before the BPUT office on question paper leakage issue. However, lulu should advise his followers not to waste the costly eggs and tomatoes to demonstrate their anger against Dasburma for the combination of the two can be a good recipe in the star hotels of our State if not in the middle class kitchen because of its sky rocketing prices in the capital market. lulu Bhai! Are you listeningIJ
Minster’s call distance
Minister for Housing and Urban Development Pushpendra Singh Deo is no doubt passing through a busy period unable to grant an audience to people of his constituency, but a phone call to the Chairperson of Dharamgarh NAC Hira Bag or the Executive Officer from his residential bungalow Bhubaneswar with a small amount of financial grant can salvage the probable unforeseen disaster looming large before the school children and their guardians.
The drain water of Jagannathpada in Dharmagarh has virtually stalled near the Aurobinda Patha Chakra School that remains under the veiled attention of the NAC which is responsible for creating unbearable filthy smell in and around the locality. Clogged right in front of the main gate it is leading for an unforeseen health hazard situation for the school going children who are prone to diseases like diarrhoea, jaundice, hepatitis B et al. Politicians and votaries of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan have shut their eyes to the problem which is bound to have its snowballing effect. A state of epidemic is also not ruled out unless immediate steps are taken and the issue resolved at the grass root. It is after all the Minister’s home constituency and within the range of a phone call distance.
New Year frustration
Hotels and clubs celebrated the New Year eve with zest till the ‘zero hour’ welcoming the year 2016. With neon light dance and music and plenty of food and drinks, it was revelry and merrymaking all through the evening till late night. The industrial hub Rourkela was no different. But then, that was the night of 2015. As the New Year unfolded children accompanied by their parents visited the Indira Gandhi Park which was transformed into clusters of family picnic spots where elders enjoyed to their hilt. As usual children thronged the food stalls temporarily put up for the day. But the zoo inside the children park, the principal attraction, did not measure up to their expectations. Except for a couple of disgustingly dirty Emu birds, Ostriches and a couple of deer making their appearance once a while, bears and other mammals remained inside. The swings and sliders were small in number to accommodate about 40,000 children roughly. Motor boats sailed few and far between in the lily pond, another area of attraction. The toy train has long been off the track. The doll museum remained closed. The music fountain was an evening affair for obvious reason. The park should have undergone a dress rehearsal for such occasions. By the Smart City standard, the IG park has lot of scope for improvement but the bread earners of RSP especially the ‘half-full brigade’ of the company would not admit the lacunae under absolute loyalty or out of the fear for a moral breach of trust !
(The writer , a former PR Manager of SAIl in Rourkela Steel Plant, a former Vice-Chairman of PRSI, Orissa Chapter, is a functional Editor of English weekly ‘Kosal Horizon, email: baidyanathmishra123@rediffmail.com,Cell : 94370 83025)