Daniel Defoe wrote ‘Robinson Crusoe’ in 1719, nearly 300 years ago. Robinson spent 28 years on a strange island off the Venezuela coast with his talking parrot Poll, pet dog and tame goat as only companions. After 24 years, he discovered a dangerous cannibal tribe called Cribe that used desolate beaches to slaughter and eat captives. He witnessed a solo captive escaping from captors. Moved, Robinson ambushed two pursuers before the other cannibals left in a canoe.
The rescued captive bowed down in gratitude and so became Robinson’s most loyal personal assistant. Neither understood the other’s language. So, Robinson called him Friday because that was the day of their union. The expression ‘Man Friday’ from that day meant a very loyal servant.
Incidentally, while probing deeper into the ponzy scams in Odisha, the CBI bumped into a guy called Saroj Sahu, who turns out to be a Man Friday to Naveen Patnaik, the super-clean Chief Minister. The CBI summoned Saroj to grill him fairly well to dig out such critical information as might put a good number of honchos into trouble.
Saroj is from Khandapada of Nayagarh district. He hawked newspapers and worked as peon at the BJD office. God knows how Saroj landed up at the Naveen Nivas and rose to become Patnaik’s most trusted lieutenant. It is rumoured that Saroj, who is a kid of 36, guides Naveen on all fronts. He solved problems of choosing candidates for elections and doled out money to candidates. Mysteriously, not even the most talkative of the BJD leaders ever made a mention of Saroj anywhere. There was, though, some grumbling and grunting about a relatively young bureaucrat guiding Naveen whimsically. Coincidentally, the backbiters in the BJD grapevine keep whispering audibly that most of the controversial characters have names beginning with a P- Pravat Tripathy, Pravat Biswal, Pranab Balabantray, Prashant Dash, Pradeep Sethy and a couple more. Frightened theists say lord Purushottam dwelling in Puri has some special design to fix public offenders. The critics would say that Naveen is so sensitively close to Saroj that no personal decision on any critical matter is taken by him without the latter’s intervention. Thus, they have named Saroj the ‘Man Monday-to-Sunday 24x7’. More may surface about this mysterious guy in good time.
The CBI has also fished one Subhankar Naik, who, hails from Sambalpur. Naik is a very smart operator and fortune smiled upon him for a short period during which he became a successful land broker for the Seashore ponzy outfit. Very interestingly, Pravat Biswal and wife have told the CBI that they accepted an advance amount of money for selling their land to Prashant of Seashore but got panicky after Pyari, the alleged promoter of Seashore, got exposed and into trouble. Prashant backed out from the deal and the Biswal couple returned the money in cash without obtaining any receipt as proof. Pravat Tripathy too could not convince the CBI that he never ate up money privately but spent it on ‘public fun and laughter’ during the Banki festival.
There is big, big talk that another Cuttack district MlA has vanished from public glare in fear of being summoned by the CBI. Even the already-controversial Minister Dasburma could be in trouble for allegedly having made easy money or facilitated such crimes for friends. BJD grapevine leakages reveal that Dasburma and two other upung Minister have told Naveen that they be protected when the CBI falls in love with them, or else they would flip the lid to expose all which might result in fall of the empire, because the CM dropped Pravat Tripathy like a horribly hot brick when the CBI got into relationship with him. No one knows what extent of truth is contained in the rumours, but it is true that many a BJD leader including Dama are having sleepless nights because children also have abused parental status to reap personal benefits. The mighty BJD Empire is under big unmanageable threat now. There is talk of a huge chunk breaking away and forming a new power house after giving away Naveen on calculated grounds of fault.
The BJD administration controlled by Naveen is committing grave mistakes. If Prakash Mishra were so unfit, how did the guides and advisors choose him as the DG of Police in 2012IJ The records of crime could not have been different then, for sure. When State Governments are pleading with the Central decision makers to put their IPS stars as CBI chief, Odisha Vigilance department is dispatching summons for appearance to Prakash. Even if he were guilty, the State administration does no good by making public that it chooses wrong officials for right jobs. The whole Odisha has been put to shame. Naveen is a cool guy because he does not get into any issue deep enough to use head and take decisions. He has a set of thinkers, planners, doers and monitors to work for him and bring him laurels. The quality classes of the State have been expressing great desire that the entire political executive, the Council of Ministers go and serve as apprentice under Manohar Parrikar, who is highly trained, efficient and ethical in matters of Statecraft. Parrikar will fail most of them on grounds of dishonesty, fraud, brazen lying and conspiracy against the State. Naveen has to prove by displaying rock-bottom interest in trying to make the system acceptably fit and fine. Though the masses are likely to keep voting for Naveen even now, chances for future victory are getting bleaker by the day.
Taradatt, a PhD holding top bureaucrat, is a ruthlessly honest official. He, as the Revenue Secretary, was assigned the job of digging out the terrible facts of Government plot looting by guile. Now, his recommendation is simple and straight: fraudulently grabbed plots have to be taken back and offenders be punished as per criminal law. Hundreds of biggies are identified as thieves. Most painfully, journalists expected to be ‘conscience keepers’ too have been exposed as daylight robbers. Several journalists are also staying in Government houses for songs, yet availing corporate-level city rents from the employers. The masses are keen that they be evicted first with a slap of taint on them.
Several servile journalists stole multiple houses when late Nalinikanta Mohanty was Urban Development Minister. The Press Council of India makes it mandatory that journalists do not avail Government facilities out of turn to remain above board and avoid conflict of interest. Most shamefully, Amar Pradhan, while discharging duty as the UD Minister, across a very brief period, gave away 439 houses and plots to colleagues, friends and relatives as if they were his ancestral property. All Urban UD Ministers who have availed big plots and houses for themselves at prime locations of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack must be dragged to jails for having deceived and cheated people.
*last part of the story has to end up at the PMO. So far so good, for Modi is proving to be a serious performer. Fortunately for him, petroleum and other commodity prices have plummeted and he is hailed as hero. A master orator and super master in rhetoric and populist lingo, he holds masses even in the Western world spellbound by speaking universal sense. But that his deserted wife is in trouble with the security guards should bother him more than is marked. Jashodaben has a right to live in the Prime Ministerial bungalow. Modi kept her hidden for quite a while. But that he has recognised her as spouse even only lately, he should ensure that she is treated with dignity. Amit Shah, Arun Jaitley and, above all, Sushma Swaraj have to persuade Modi to organise a room for Jashadaben in his official residence because the Z category security cover is confounding her at the brother’s incredibly humble dwelling house. She is travelling in a bus while the gun-wielding, deadly guards are virtually chasing her in sophisticated motor vehicles. More disconcertingly, while at home, she is told to treat the gang as supreme class guests. That makes her life miserable. Modi, as a great human being first, rather than a magical PM, bring Jashodaben home! That simple act will catapult him onto cloud nine. The women folks across the world will look upon him as a hero and role model.
(The writer is a core member of Transparency International, Odisha)