The explanation offered by Finance Minister Pradip Kumar Amat who represented Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday that Patnaik was not able to attend the big event because of the election of the State Assembly Speaker scheduled on the day is being described as a lame excuse.
Political observers pointed out that Biju Jantata Dal (BJD) nominee for the Speaker's post Niranjan Pujari was all set to be elected unopposed in view of the BJD having as many as 117 MlAs in the 147 member House. So, there was no reason to believe the Chief Minister had any apprehension that prevented him from being in Delhi.
Interestingly, Naveen Patnaik who until the counting day kept saying that it was too early to spell out the BJD's stand on the NDA or the Third Front, chose not to say a word about it even after the issue was discussed threadbare in the meeting of the party MPs at his residence on Saturday.
A senior BJD leader conceded that Patnaik's decision of not attending Modi's coronation was more out of fear than conviction. "He does not want to appear as someone who is either scared or dismissive of the Modi Government because both options are fraught with risk," he said.
A disgruntled BJD leader said Patnaik has been deliberately adopting a 'neither here nor there" policy and in the process, enjoying the best of both the worlds.
"On one hand, he proclaims he is 'equidistant' from the BJP and the Congress and on the other, he uses his clandestine links with 'friends' in both parties to make sure his personal and political interests are protected," he said.