Even though the arrest of former law Minister Raghunath Mohanty has brought huge relief to the BJD, the Barsa Swony Choudhury dowry case has once again exposed the fault lines of the ruling party headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
It has reinforced the impression that many Ministers and senior party functionaries are not really bothered about the credibility of the party and its public image. But Naveen Patnaik seems to act only under pressure from the Opposition parties and the media.
Besides being a Minister and an MlA for 23 long years, Raghunath Mohanty was also a vice-president of the BJD. But his moves in the wake of the filing of the FIR by his daughter-in-law, including his fortnight-long hiding, suggested that he was more concerned about the fate of his family than that of his party.
Patnaik as the BJD president removed Mohanty as party vice-president only after public criticism over the latter being allowed to continue in the post for more than a fortnight after being accused of a dowry torture case.
When Mohanty had gone to Patnaik’s residence on morning of March 15 to submit his resignation letter, the Chief Minister did not ask him to cooperate with law enforcing agencies in the conduct of the case. Had Patnaik done that, Mohanty would not have dared to resort to the vanishing trick he did for so long, point out political observers. After all, Patnaik also holds the Home portfolio.
No wonder that the Opposition parties found fault with Patnaik for not asking the police to arrest Mohanty when he came to the Naveen Nivas. Congress Chief Whip in the Assembly Prasad Harichandan even went to the extent of accusing Patnaik of allowing Mohanty to “escape and abscond” after resigning the Ministry.
Perhaps for the first time in the nearly 14-year-long Patnaik rule, women activists of the opposition Congress and BJP dared to stage demonstrations in front of his residence, Naveen Nivas, rather than confining, as usual, their agitation to the Mahatma Gandhi Marg area.
Mohanty’s conduct also exposed the lack of respect for law among BJD leaders. In this particular case, Mohanty was the law Minister, but he preferred to play hide-and-seek with the law enforcement agencies. It is another matter that he might be innocent in the entire dowry torture episode, but his conduct indirectly proved that he is not so innocent. By not volunteering for arrest and, moreover, by running away from law, he unwittingly helped strengthen his daughter-in-law’s case against him and his family. As a respectable mass leader, he should have surrendered before the police as soon as his petitions for interim protection were rejected by the High Court.
Mohanty’s conduct has caused a serious damage to the BJD’s slogan of Maa ku samman (respect to women). Many in the women’s community would now consider several times whether to vote for BJD leaders, feel political observers.