Wearing an immaculate white pair of dhoti and Punjabi, bespectacled Narasingha Mishra bristles with wit and wisdom having a penchant for brilliant irony and biting sarcasm. He was Minister of law in Biju Patnaik’s Ministry 1990 to 1995. Mishra, now in the Congress, is the present formidable leader of Opposition in the State legislative Assembly and puts every action of the Government under scanner during discussions on the floor of the House.
Endowed with mellow autumnal wisdom, he ensures the raison d’etre of the issues facing the House amid the cacophony of the brilliant and the boisterous, the sedate and the sarcastic, the aggressive and the subtle, the recalcitrant and the docile members of the legislature in fulfilling his yeoman’s job as the leader of Opposition. In an interview to The Pioneer, Mishra spoke to Sugyan Choudhury at his Forest Park residence in Bhubaneswar on November 18 in an atmosphere of informal chitchat.
What are the items in your agenda to confront the Treasury Benches in the current session of the AssemblyIJ
The issues are innumerable and varied. The involvement of the Chief Minister in promoting the cheats of the chit fund companies, the Government’s inaction in taking appropriate action against the MlAs, MPs and Ministers whose names are already indicated in this scam, the land scam in which BJD leaders, MlAs, Ministers, MPs are involved and all these issues and many more will be given top priority. The most important point is the confession of a Cabinet Minister like Dr Damodar Rout about open patronage of the Government to a particular chit fund company, the flat allotment scam, the mining scam vis-a-vis the Shah Commission report, CAG report, the court scam where the Chief Minister is involved.
Besides the charges of corruption, the problems of farmers shall be discussed. Farmers are producing paddy, but the Government is yet to take steps to purchase it to prevent its distress sale and it has failed to prevent farmer suicides. Farmers have not yet received the money due to crop loss of 2011 though money is there. The problem of unemployment of youths, failure of the Government’s promise to provide jobs to the unemployed, the programmes of NREGS not being implemented resulting in massive migration of labourer will also be discussed. The Government’s promise to provide irrigation facilities to 35% of areas in each block has ended in fiasco resulting in failure of crops. Besides, the nonfunctioning of the Government will be discussed too.
As you have mentioned regarding the mining scam, are you going to raise CBI inquiry demandIJ
We have been demanding a CBI probe into the mining scam, but the BJD Government is avoiding the same so much so that they have engaged the Attorney General which costs Rs 25 lakh for each appearance. The PIl was heard by Odisha High Court for one year and eight months and the judgement is yet to come since the CJ who heard the matter was elevated to the Supreme Court. Now, the question is either the State Government should agree to a CBI probe or else the second option is left before the Hon’ble High Court or the apex court to issue necessary directives.
What are you going to do on the issue of discretionary quota in which some influential persons including Ministers and bureaucrats have been allotted the landsIJ
I have already told you that it will be discussed during the issue of land scam debate. Allotment of lands to top bureaucrats and politicians upon their swearing false affidavits, allotment of more than one house will also be discussed in a thread bare manner.
How do you view the present law and order situation in the StateIJ
Worst. The crime rate published by the Government itself speaks for itself. It seems that in the incidence of rapes as if we are competing with other States. The state Government has failed in either taking any preventive or punitive measures for arresting the menace. The State Government has controlled the Maoist problems to some extent which is true, but not enough of the truth. Maoist violence is spreading from one district to another since they are in search of new pastures.
In which of the issues are you going to cooperate with the GovernmentIJ
The world ‘cooperation’ is a misnomer. However, we will not oppose for the sake of opposition. We will play the role of a constructive Opposition. We will extend our support in the matters of pro-people legislations; we will oppose them if they enact law which will benefit the interest of the business houses or if it goes against the interest of the people.
Your Congress party is a big organisation having a history of its own, but it is gradually being alienated from the masses; what is your opinion in this regardIJ
losing an election at the national level or in the State does not mean that we are alienated from the masses. In the 1984 general election, the BJP had got two seats when one could say that they were routed, but that would have been wrong. Take the example that in 1985, the Congress had got 117 seats in Odisha whereas in 1990 the figure came down to 10. Today, we are six numbers more than 1990; and you cannot say that the Congress will not come back to power in 2019.
Recently, the birthday of Sardar Patel and the martyr’s day of Indira Gandhi were observed on the same day. Some of the leaders from the Congress and the BJP parties accused each other for undermining both the leaders by observing separate functions. What’s your viewIJ
The day of observance, i.e. 31st October, was just a coincidence. However, they should remember that history cannot be forgotten by the people who remember it. BJP is just a new nomenclature given to the party which existed in the form of RSS and Jan Sangh earlier. Can they ever cite the name of any of their predecessors who took part in the freedom struggle and was either jailed or hanged or suffered in any wayIJ It was AB Vajpayee the tallest leader of the party who in 1942 gave witness in the court and secured conviction against the freedom fighters. When Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, this matter came out in an English weekly and Vajpayee’s advocate issued a notice to the editor for filing a defamation suit. The advocate had mentioned that the witness given by that Vajpayee was a different man than the PM Vajpayee since the witness Vajpayee’s father’s name was different. The editor verified the issue and found that PM Vajpayee’s father had two names just like Ram alias Shyam, but the witness was confirmed to have been given by AB Vajpayee who later became the PM. When this fact was brought to limelight, Vajpayee’s advocate withdrew the notice in a hurry.
If you read Madhav Sadasiv Goalwalkar’s book Bunch of Hearts, you can see how they have painted Mahatma Gandhi with scorn, contempt and disdain. So, can they ever find a freedom fighter in their partyIJ Even Sardar Patel was a Congress man who banned RSS after Gandhiji was assassinated.
What is the future of your Congress party, which is haunted by constant bickering from withinIJ
The future of Congress is very bright. In which party there is no rivalryIJ What is the relationship between Modi and Advani and Modi and JoshiIJ What is the relationship of BJP and BJD leaders at the State levelIJ I think in Congress the intra-rivalry is less than what is in BJP and BJD.