Unfit PushpendraIJ
Junagarh MlA Captain Divya Shankar Mishra may not be a mature politician in the true sense of the term, but in PR skill he is much ahead of others. He is one of the trusted MlAs of the BJD supremo though as a spokesperson of the party he hardly has anything to write home about. Being an erstwhile pilot of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, his political lessons began in the Chhattisgarh air base and gradually flew high to harbour an ambition of doing something in politics. His hometown Bhawanipatna being a reserved constituency, this young Bramhin boy had to run from pillar to post for a party ticket. He was denied a ticket by Congress and the grassroots leadership of BJP had a strong reservation against Mishra. Fortune favours the brave and as he kept on exploring the possibility, hockey legend Dilip Tirkey came to his aid and recommended his name to the Chief Minister. He was bit sound financially and the Naveen wave helped him cross through the electoral battle where he defeated Congress sitting MlA Gobardhan Das. Now, speculation is rife that he will be included as a Minister when Naveen reshuffles his ministry before the Monsoon Session. Political analysts have gone to the extent of forecasting that Pushpendra Singh Deo’s days as Minister are numbered. The countdown has started after his appointment as chairman of the District Planning Board, Nuapada. For the Smart City of Bhubaneswar, Pushpendra is said to be debilitated to handle the Central fund on which the BJD supremo has always an eye.
KKD’s Press note politics!
Foundation Day celebration of a political party is an occasion to review its performance, pat one another’s back on the success and take lessons from failures. But the Kosal Kranti Dal’s (KKD) Foundation Day celebration recently in Jharsuguda ended on a note of despair. Kosal State Coordination Committee president was seen gripped over a fear psychosis that the movement is opposed by the marginalised group in the party. A challenge to his individual leadership through a couple of news in the mass media should not be given the connotation of a challenge to the movement. The leader should have magnanimity to accept Press criticism on his strides which gives him a fair opportunity for course correction in the roadmap, if he has any. And after all, who is he threatening of dire consequences, his own people! It sounds ridiculous and proves his egotist behaviour he is often accused of. This red letter day on June 7 provided an opportunity to review the party’s strength and weakness and focus on participation of KKD in three- tier Panchayat elections and general elections where it failed miserably on last two occasions. Since nothing of the sort happened, an assembly of around 200 members in the four walls of a hall engaged in a non-sense discussion has sent a wrong message among the diehard followers of the Kosal movement. A movement is not steered through speech making and release of Press notes. The beleaguered leader should lead the movement from the front rather than sit at home for past several years. Brewing discontentment in the party should be diagnosed in its infancy before it is too late to rise from the state of morass.
Game changers for W Odisha
Bauxite and solar energies are two components to play as game changers for western Odisha. Convergence of these two can bring in a turnaround in western Odisha which has a lopsided growth history. The lethargic Government is yet to lay out the roadmap for the aggrieved people of this region. 10 districts of western Odisha have large areas of unused land and with more than 300 days of sun light available, this region has potential of producing 30,000 MW solar power that can feed not only the entire Odisha but the surplus energy could be transmitted to the neighbouring States as well. Similarly bauxite from the mines of Kalahandi and Balangir can feed the alumina refineries and aluminium smelters already set up in this region which can open new vistas of employment opportunity for the unemployed youths. Together these components can be the money spinners to boost the purchasing power for the people. The anti-development agencies or NGOs funded by vested interests which propel Maoist activities in the area are to be tackled ruthlessly. The present Government has neither the will nor the zeal to make it happen.
RSP dole for scribes in tow
Newspaper establishments have been allotted RSP owned quarters on rent at Rourkela. But in the absence of a policy guideline, the Chief of Communication who is supposed to recommend allotment of quarters pursues a policy that varies from newspaper to newspaper vis-à-vis person to person. To cap it all, there is only one policy in this respect and that is ‘no policy at all’. Bhubaneswar-based newspaper owners apply for quarters and if the representative concerned is pro-RSP in his reporting then a quarter is allotted but that again depends on how close the journalist is with the Communication Chief. As such ‘show me the person and I show you the rules’ rules the roost. There was a committee formed with the approval of the Chief Executive Officer of the plant to scrutinise the applications and recommend. But the committee is learnt to be defunct for the past two years. Can a public sector Maharatna company like SAIl afford to pursue such highhanded preferential treatmentIJ It is time the CEO constituted a committee to probe such discriminatory allotment and fix responsibility besides imparting justice to those newspapers and periodicals in the waiting list. Journalists with State Government accreditation are said to have been excluded from allotment because they maintain distance from the corridors of power or because they call a spade a spade and come within the intolerance range of the powers that be. The tail piece: The golden rule to win over a journalist is giving him a roof over his head and appease the publisher with loads of advertisements, both complementing each other.
Rejoinder
With reference to the item ‘Topmost issue for RSP CEO’ in Weekly Roundups on May 23-24, the Steel Executives’ Federation of India (SEFI) has strongly protested “the character assassination” of an executive of the Rourkela Steel Plant” who is a former chairman of the SEFI.
(The Resident Editor regrets any deliberate attempt in the story to hurt the officer.)