TV
Senior BJD leader Soumya Ranjan Patnaik on Friday took a dig at the 5T Secretary of the Odisha government and the ruling party.
Patnaik targeted the 5T Secretary directly in ‘Ama Ghara Halchal’ column of his daily newspaper with the title – ‘Janmadinara Anuchinta’.
In the column, Patnaik sarcastically wrote on 5T vs 5M. He has again put a question mark on who is more powerful between minister and secretary.
Narrating the incident about the 5T Secretary playing the audio of the Chief Minister in a meeting, Patnaik has written about 5M. As per him, the Secretary has taken all the ‘M’s – Maa (Mother), Mati (Soil), Matrubhasa (Mother Tongue), Mobile and Mada (Liquour) seriously. He has severely criticised 5T Secretary’s visits to various parts of the State in chopper to hear the grievances of people.
Patnaik questioned when the Collectors have been appointed in every district to hear the grievances of people, why so much money is spent on the 5T Secretary’s visits to various parts of the State in a chopper. He estimated that the expenditure towards the 5T Secretary’s visit would be around Rs 300 crore.
Patnaik also took a dig at the Ministers and MLAs for looking after preparations of tents and other things ahead of the 5T Secretary’s visit by holding umbrellas in rain. He further questioned about the reason behind advertising a particular man.
Apart from the 5T Secretary, Patnaik also took a dig at ruling BJD. As per him, Naveen is BJD’s property. He further questioned that does the party become so poor that it is now forced to bet its most valuable property.
In his column, Patnaik has also mentioned the party’s silence on Manipur violence. He has written that if there is a conflict between party and soil, the soil will always win. He further mentioned that our mother Utkal seems to be neglected and exploited now.
On the occasion of his birthday, he has made the political discussion more intense by writing about sacrifice for the soil.
“For us, ‘who is bigger between party and soil?’ should not be a question. Rather ‘soil is always bigger than party’, should always be an aphorism,” wrote Patnaik.
Meanwhile, BJD leader Anubhav Patnaik slammed Soumya Ranjan Patnaik for criticising the 5T Secretary and the ruling party.
“He said that his last wish was to enter the Odisha Vidhan Sabha as MLA even if it’s for one day. After becoming MLA he again went around desperately pleading with folded hands that now his last wish was to be a Minister, even if it’s for a few days” tweeted Anubhav.
“We all believe in Lord Jagannath. If he has guts let him deny this. The people of Odisha know his double-standards & how low he can stoop for his selfish gains. It’s ironic that a man who blackmailed his in-laws as long as they were alive & continues to blackmail his brothers even today is speaking of “Mati”. It’s like “Saitan Ra Veda Patha”. A man who has created a state as well as national record for Party- hopping and being driven out of most Parties in his life due to his greed and disloyalty is talking of “Mati” today,” he further tweeted.
“It’s apt to say “Chaluni Kahuchi Chunchi Ku.....” Whenever history would search for a name of a double-faced, greedy, power-greedy blackmailer in Odisha politics, this man would be chosen as the best example of it. However I wish him a Happy Birthday and hope he will do some self-introspection to at least now become a better person,” Patnaik added.
In response to Patnaik’s column, BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi said that the BJD leader had also raised the issue earlier.
“The issue is being discussed in each and every village and marketplace in all the 30 districts of Odisha. People are asking who is the Chief Minister? If the Chief Minister visits various parts of the State in chopper then it’s ok. However, a Secretary level government employee visiting various places in a chopper is not the proper decorum,” said Aparajita.
Meanwhile, BJD MLA Raj Kishore Das said that Patnaik has given his individual opinion in the newspaper column.
“Whenever the Secretary is visiting various parts of the State, people are participating in the meetings spontaneously to inform about their grievances,” said Das.
However, the political analysts termed the targetting by Soumya Patnaik as his welled up anger against the administration and the government.
"He (Patnaik) is highly dissatisfied on the current administration. It can be said that a front line leader of the ruling party has proved the allegations by the Opposition, right," said senior journalist Peasanna Mohanty.
