BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday clearly hinted that some of the leaders who had to go out of the ruling party under different circumstances would be re-inducted into the party in near future.
Patnaik’s statement is significant in the wake of a section of senior BJD leaders like MPs Bhartuhari Mahtab and Baijayant Panda striking discordant notes in the party virtually bordering on antiparty activities with speculations that they may switch over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Political observers feel Patnaik’s move, as disclosed in reply to a query by the media, is a timely one to cut the party dissident leaders to size.
However, Patnaik said re-inclusion of erstwhile leaders in the party would be done after a case-to-case review, meaning thereby that it would be carefully decided as to which leaders have to be chosen for return to the party fold.
Now, speculations are mainly focussed on Prafulla Chandra Ghadai, Raghunath Mohanty, Bijay Mohapatra and Dilip Ray, who had to be out of the BJD for different reasons.
Ghadai, who was dismissed from the party for airing his anti-leadership views in a newspaper interview more than two years ago, has not rushed to any other party and has since always been stating that though he has been removed from the BJD, he feels he is still part of the party. So, Ghadai’s rehabilitation in the party is likely to assume priority.
Raghunath Mohanty had to be eased out of the party following the case filed by his daughter-in-law accusing him along with other family members of torture. The estranged daughter-in-law has now returned to the family after reconciliation. Moreover, Mohanty, without joining any other party, has been working for the BJD in his Baleswar district.
As for Mohapatra and Ray, both are now in the BJP but out of the grace of the BJP leadership because of their opposition to Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s dominance in the State party affairs. Moreover, Ray is now in trouble for the CBI’s move against him over his alleged involvement in a coal block allotment scam.
According to observers, Bijay Mohapatra’s return to the BJD may prove tough against the background of the bitterness that marked his exit from the party as far back as in the year 2000 when he was rejected as the candidate for the Patkura Assembly seat at the last moment without his knowledge.