The Block Grant (BG) teachers and anganwadi workers should thank Naveen Patnaik’s worries for elections for their demands being fulfilled. Patnaik, who conceded the teachers’ years-long grievances and is also likely to meet the anganwadi employees’ demands soon, as indicated by official sources, is clearly acting with elections in view. The political heat is on the rise; the BG teachers may also thank BJP national president Amit Shah’s three-day visit to the State from September 6 for fulfilment of their demands. Patnaik seems to be preparing for a mid-term election to the Assembly even before reports about the BJP leadership mulling early general elections emanated from New Delhi recently. Patnaik’s possible move to go in for polls in 2018 is aimed at preempting the BJP’s efforts to strengthen its pan-Odisha organisational base.
But what is surprising is Patnaik’s belated decision to accept the 55,000-strong BG teachers’ longstanding demands so late, even after 17 long, long days of agitation this year. The teachers now might be happy, but their happiness is tinged with a sense of bitterness over their smarting out in the streets of Bhubaneswar amid rains and humid conditions. By now, the opposition parties, especially the BJP, have earned appreciation of the teachers as these parties’ leaders repeatedly visited the teachers’ dharna site and lent their full support to them. This may dent the vast number of teachers’ support to the ruling BJD. After all, the teachers have a significant role to play in deciding the votes in rural areas. Why Patnaik let this situation happen should be a matter of self-introspection for him. The ultimate decision in the teachers’ favour is not a masterstroke by him unlike his many other announcements in the past, including the recent one on implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations for the State Government employees. And if he wants to consider the Anganwadi Workers’ demands favourably, he shouldn’t delay as these employees are also a large number voters and voter-motivators too. After all, the BJP challenge to the BJD has become stronger after Dharmendra Pradhan’s elevated stature on being promoted to the Cabinet rank in the just-reshuffled Union Ministry.
Won’t high command fail State Cong againIJ
Will the Congress high command take a realistic stand on the party’s Odisha unit this timeIJ Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have dillydallied enough in revitalising the party in the State, for which the Congress has now clearly slipped into the third slot being upstaged by the BJP as the number two political force after the last panchayat polls. Congress supporters in the State now hope that Rahul Gandhi would be serious in infusing vitality in the virtual moribund State party as he has called as many as over 30 State leaders for discussions in Delhi on September 5. If he does not decide on a change of the PCC leadership once again and the discussions of this kind again end without meaningful results, he is to be blamed for decimating the State party further, which would, no doubt, lead to more party leaders switching over to the BJD and the BJP. As it clearly looks, Niranjan Patnaik is the majority choice of the party rank and file as the PCC chief in replacement of Prasad Harichandan. The other leader in the race is Bhakta Charan Das, who, however, lacks an all-Odisha image. And in the event of the high command settling for another one, a dark horse, the party should forget its revival before the 2019 elections.