CM’s ‘no’ to ties with Cong ups BJD
leader of BJD Parliamentary party Bhartruhari Mahtab last Wednesday made a controversial statement followed by a dissenting note in his own party. Mahtab said BJD’s policy of maintaining equal distance from Congress and BJD can be reviewed in the wake of an initiative by the SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav to concretize the concept of a united front with major non-BJP parties under one umbrella. This is not for the first time such an idea has been floated. There was an experiment with this concept during Bihar election at the behest of election strategist Prasant Kishore and somehow clicked though Mulayam himself maintained a safe distance from lalu and Nitish. Congress benefited from this alliance. That BJD will jump into this fray because of the present anti-incumbency mood in Odisha could be a probability according Mahtab. No sooner did the unauthorized statement spread like a wild fire, than the Chief Minister himself took control of the situation and denied the speculation at Simulia saying there is no question of being a part of an alliance where Congress is present. Congress, he said, has always neglected Odisha and going with Congress in any alliance is impossible. This was followed by a series of denials from BJD spokespersons. Narasingha Mishra in his reaction pointed out that there is a simmering discontent in BJD. Suresh Pujari said “there was a premarital secret alliance between BJD and Congress which has now been unraveled. The marriage of convenience will be solemnized soon”. Naveen Patnaik through his statement once again has tried to assert himself. He seems to have conveyed a message that team BJD is on a strong wicket.
All is not well in Odisha Congress
Kaleidoscopic changes are being witnessed in the State Congress camp each passing day. The unanimous views expressed by the Congress legislators has shattered the confidence of the Central leadership to such an extent that there is no other way but to adopt a go-slow method by first asking the PCC chief to visit Delhi for a meeting with the junior high command (Rahul Gandhi) and then asking all district chiefs to assemble in Delhi and present their views before him. Odisha in-charge BK Hariprasad’s views needed to be endorsed at the apex level. On his return from Delhi, PCC chief Prasad Harichandan said that there was no dispute in Congress and all was well. But the simmering internal discontent on the issue of Congress leadership change has been proved beyond doubt. Meanwhile, a new development in the nation’s political scenario is waiting to take shape where the State BJD is likely to join the so-called secular forces, if the views of MP Bhartruhari Mahtab are any indication. But BJD joining the grand secular alliance is seen as suicidal in the present scenario. Therefore, its stand of maintaining equal distance from Congress and BJP will continue. Denying such a probability, Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik himself has brushed aside the speculation much to the disappointment Mulayam Singh Yadav who is now working on a formula to bring all the secular forces under one umbrella.
land biggest setback to Make in Odisha
Odisha has fallen four steps down in the list of States having favourable business environment. It has been pushed up to 11th position whereas in 2015 it was ranked no 7. The result must have surprised the CM who had asked the officials to improve its ranking to 3rd position. The point of solace, somehow, is that Odisha secured 92.73 per cent marks as against the previous 52.12 per cent and has been placed in the ‘leaders State’ category among 12 States. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the World Bank in tandem have prepared the report. None the less, the more satisfying features include business improvement in tax, environment and labour reforms in addition to its creditable audit system. A portal has been developed for preparing a foolproof report with capacity to produce such report in 48 hours only. In view of the recent conclaves held in Bangalore and Mumbai followed by the CM’s meeting with UN business heads in Delhi as a part of the massive preparation of a conclave in November in Bhubaneswr, the report bears a negative message. It does not convey a note of optimism for entrepreneurs under the ‘Make in Odisha’ initiatives. Availability of land on time and higher electrical tariff are said to be the hurdles.
KBK schemes: Hopes belied
The KBK scheme is perhaps the greatest fraud of the Indian Government perpetrated on the innocent people of a backward region comprising eight districts of Odisha. An amount Rs 2,843.95 crore has been spent between 1998-99 and 2014-15. Now confronted with the mega failure of the scheme at the grassroots, the lofty ideals of the Government have gone awry. That the huge investment has gone down the drain is the reality nobody wants to buy. The districts under KBK umbrella should have by now been provided with the basic needs of the people in education, health, road communication, drinking water et al. Even after the Biju KBK scheme was added to the Central scheme, the scenario hardly changed. 1,114 villages of Malkangiri, 1,371 in Kalahandi, 1,835 in Koraput and 679 villages in Bolangir have no road connectivity. Similarly, electricity has not reached to 405 villages of Kalahandi including 35 villages of Bhawanipatna block, 40 villages of Dharmagarh, Golamunda (56), Jaipatna (63), Junagarh (24), Kalampur (16), Kesinga (8), Koksara (60), lanjigarh (26), M.Rampur (13), Narla (29) and 15 villages of Thuamul Rampur block have no electricity connection. Reports published by ‘People’s Audit of Health’ and ‘Education and livelihood’ say that health workers engaged in KBK districts have been able to reach only 70 per cent children. Drinking water is available to 80.7 per cent families in Koraput, 81.1 per cent in Malkangiri, 79.7 per cent in Nabarangpur, 78.5 percent in Rayagada, 71.2 per cent in Subarnapur, 69.1 per cent in Kalahandi and 72.5 per cent in Nuapada. A large percentage of people do not get pure drinking water. People’s expectation for a better living through this much trumpeted scheme has now been shattered.