Dharmendra’s Odia prideIJ
Parliamentarian Bhartruhari Mahtab in a fete organised by Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan recently in his New Delhi residence showered him with words of praise amidst 100-odd Odias of Delhi. The occasion was to felicitate Kabiratna Haladhar Nag and film director Neelamadhab Panda who received Padma Shree for excellence in their respective field. Mahatab while commenting on Dharmendra said, a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar, he has a heart for Odisha and the time is not far off when he will transform himself physically to Odisha, indirectly hinting that he would be chosen as a member of the either House on Odisha quota sooner than later. This comment was by and large appreciated by all those present in that evening as guests of the Minister. With wife Mrudula Thakur Pradhan, personally taking care of the guests, right from the reception to see-off stage, the bonhomie and camaraderie was in acme. A member of Rajya Sabha on Bihar quota, Pradhan hails from Angul district and is said to be very close to the corridors of power in Delhi. legacy of the Bihar election debacle still haunting him, the Minister with his peter pan look demonstrates
a cool and calm posture while remotely controlling his party in Odisha. Even when tonnes of chicken Biryani could not satisfy the BJP party activists in Bihar election, we are yet to test his strength in Odisha because election politics in Odisha is a different ball of game where people are yet to be politically conscious. You have to double the amount that Naveen gives to his candidates to contest elections if you want to write the script of success in the next election. Dharmendra Ji, are you listeningIJ
Passing judgement!
It is the biggest joke of the year; he is innocent,’ said Pradeep Sethy on the allegation of his gifting a Pajero SUV to Minister Sanjay Dasburma and this was enough to stir up the hornets’ nest. But as it came from the mouth of a criminal, the Opposition dismissed this. leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra, when asked why his party stands by Ramesh Jena who is a criminal, said, a person is innocent till he is proven guilty. Argued on the same line, one can ask whether Congress should not train its gun on Dasburma as he is not proven guilty yet. BJD veteran and Excise Minister Damador Rout is a seasoned politician known for his art of repartee. Reading between the lines, his comments can be interpreted in several ways. Whatever these veterans, the latest being Nagendra Pradhan and Tathagata Satpathy, may say, the public is unlikely to believe that Dasburma nor Jena are innocent. If the CBI is extending an olive branch to the Minister to water down the investigation, it is at the behest of the Chief Minister. Why should he not suspend the Minister till proven innocent, not only for his Ponzi links with AT group but also in floating a series of company in the name of his kith and kinIJ There is no escaping from the long hands of the law. But if the custodian of the law turns into a protector of law breakers, then the long arms of the law become shorter to reach them.
Dry State: How close is OdishaIJ
Can Odisha have a liquor free societyIJ Deriving political benefit being at the root of any policy decision or programme launch of the Government, Odisha has remained No.1 from the bottom in many spheres of development. Declaring Odisha as a ‘dry’ State by imposing ban on sale and consumption of liquor can be a landmark decision in the transformation of its economy giving a virtual push to the purchasing power of the people. If Bihar has done it should Odisha lag behindIJ Mindboggling questions will be raised as to what political mileage the party in power will get if such a drastic decision is takenIJ The second question on the expected line can be how can you block a major source of revenue earning, through in real term Rs2,000 crore is miniscule against the mighty Rs85,000 crore Budget of the StateIJ Nitish Kumar, the Bihar Chief Minister, did it not because of the popular opinion which favoured him and not even because it was in his election manifesto, he did it to clip the wings of lalu Prasad who was so long supposed to be the messiah of the liquor barons and his party getting huge funds from them. In Odisha, although Naveen has no such politicians to combat with, the Chief Minister should remember that it’s a social issue of paramount importance and directly related to the pockets of the poor, mostly the labour class and the tribals. Women all across the State are seen taking to streets to close down sale of country liquors as it affects their kitchen.
What’s in a nameIJ
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has declared a research institute for Kosli language and literature at Ghens which will be named after famous poet Padmashree Haldhar Nag. Only a handful of people in Sambalpur (not the entire western Odisha, as reported in some newspapers) have reacted to it. Some linguists claiming Sambalpuri as the language spoken all over western Odisha are not true. People of Kalahandi, Bolangir, Sundargarh and even Bargarh which was a part of undivided Sambalpur do not accept the name Sambalpuri as the nomenclature of the language as Kosli carries a history of over thousand years. Sambalpur is only four hundred years old. They also oppose the name Sambalpuri as an addendum to Kosli arguing that language cannot be named after individual districts with nomenclature like Sambalpuri-Kosli, Kalahandi-Kosli, Bolangir-Kosli or Sundargarhi-Kosli. A referendum on this issue in western Odisha will go in favour of Kosli language. Moreover, as far as the grammar is concerned there is hardly any difference between the two. Since an inclusive approach is better than a regional view, sparking an unnecessary controversy is not desirable.
(The writer, a public relations expert, is a functional editor of English weekly Kosal Horizon, email:baidyanathmishra123@rediffmail.com Cell: 94370 83025)