A three-time MlA, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, who was initially promoted in the BJD politics by the then party strongman Pyarimohan Mohapatra, has a poor record as a Minister, whether
in charge of energy in his first term or health during this tenure.
A shrewd and scheming opportunist in the garb of a soft-spoken gentle young man, Nayak proved to be one of the most inefficient as the Health Ministers in the State’s history.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been extra supportive towards Nayak since picking him up as the replacement of Bijay Mohapatra, now in the BJP, in the Kendrapada politics in the year 2000 when he was a nondescript journalist.
No wonder, Nayak, though having a Minister of State rank, was awarded important portfolios.
Naveen Patnaik, though having now ousted Nayak under tremendous public pressure in the wake of the SUM Hospital tragedy that has also shaken his own position, is likely to continue to back him in the Kendrapada politics in view of his growingly reported strained relations with the party’s local lok Sabha member Baijayant Panda.
There is also the reason to checkmate Bijay Mohapatra in the Kendrapada politics as Mohapatra is known to be a leader whom Naveen
Patnaik hates most and does not want in the State Assembly.
In fact, mainly with the help of Nayak Patnaik has succeeded in blocking an entry of Mohapatra into the Assembly ever since he
engineered the exit of Mohapatra in 2000 and became Chief Minister.