Revenue Minister Surjya Narayan Patro may survive in the Cabinet if he follows the example of his Ministerial colleague Bikram Keshari Arukh, also from their native Ganjam district, in the matter of surrendering controversial Government property, according to political observers.
Rural Development Minister Arukh, it may be recalled, had last year been found possessing two houses in the State capital by taking the benefit of Ministerial discretionary quota. As the issue triggered a controversy with the Government being put in dock, Arukh survived as a Minister by surrendering one of the houses he had been allotted.
If Arukh could save his berth in the Ministry, why not Patro, it is being debated in political circles in view of the increasing demand by opposition parties for his resignation over the issue of his son Biplab being allotted a plot of prime land in the State capital.
Though Patro has claimed that he did not have any role in the land allotment in favour of his son and the subsequent cancellation of land by the Government, few are prepared to accept the excuse.
Biplab was allotted a land during the previous Congress regime, and he was supposed to complete his hotel project on the land by the year 2003. But the project could not be completed within the stipulated time and the subsequent BJD Government extended the land lease tenure as many as three times.
The recent CAG report has pointed out that the Government did not take adequate steps against the applicant for the land (Biplab).
The CAG report has also come as an embarrassment for the Government as the General Administration Department (GAD), which is the custodian of the Government properties in the State capital, is headed by none other than Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Therefore, under the circumstances, Patro could also get an outlet of survival if his son surrenders the land instead of challenging the Government’s cancellation of the plot in the wake of the CAG report, opined a senior Ministerial colleague of Patro.