Exactly four years after the aborted midnight coup against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the former strategist and advisor-turned bête noire of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo and CM Patnaik, outgoing Rajya Sabha member Pyarimohan Mohapatra talks to our correspondent Debadas Pradhan about his future planning.
* How you feel after the end of your two terms as a Rajya Sabha memberIJ
My tenure has not ended yet. I will retire on July 1, and after that I will give my feelings.
* How do you recollect the episode of May 29, 2012 at your houseIJ Why did your strategy to unseat Naveen Patnaik failIJ
There were no plans to unseat Naveen Patnaik. I had not called 85 MlAs to unseat him. The media should try to find out what is the truth, and why Vigilance report regarding Radhika Hotel in Rourkela and Crime Branch report on booking of 60 rooms in Hotel Swosti are not being released by the Naveen Patnaik Government.
* Initially, your party Odisha Jan Morcha appeared to be quite a force to reckon with; but why did the efforts go wrongIJ
Finance was the problem. Without alliance with any national party and pressure put on the corporate houses, nobody comes forward to provide fund to the OJM. I have repeatedly said in public domain and before media that unless a national party comes as an anchor, Naveen Patnaik cannot be unseated. National political parties chose to be with Naveen Patnaik as he promised both the Congress and the BJP separately that his MPs after elections would give outside support.
* You did a lot for the BJD, for which the party emerged as the strongest force in the State. You deserved a Rajya Sabha seat from the party, but what prompted you to record your obligation to Naveen Patnaik in your Rajya Sabha farewell speechIJ
My thanking to Naveen Patnaik in my farewell speech in Rajya Sabha was an expression needed by the decorum and decency. Many deserving persons do not get Parliament seats, as has been the case of KC Tyagi of JD(U) whose contribution in and outside the Rajya Sabha for his party has been greater than anyone else.
* Do you harbour a desire to return to the BJDIJ
BJD is a party that has been built by many people, particularly its workers. But everyone recognises that I was the chief architect in building the front for nearly a decade. BJD minus Naveen will always remain in my heart as my party.
* Do you have a plan to write a biography of Biju Patnaik as you knew him so intimately by working with him from close quartersIJ
I have already declared in a public meeting on April 17 this year that I intend to write about my days with great Biju Patnaik, the tallest figure in Odisha in the 20th Century. Retirement from Rajya Sabha is likely to give me some time to concentrate on the task.