Ruling party MLA continues veiled attacks, compares present Odisha govt to JB Patnaik govt 

Continuing his veiled attack on the Odisha government, Khandapada MLA and senior leader of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Soumya Ranjan Patnaik on Saturday said that during the time of Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, officers were at the beck and call of the ministers. 

Patnaik said this while addressing a gathering at the Gangadhar Mahapatra birth anniversary meeting held in Bhubaneswar. 

He said that during the time when Janaki Ballabh Patnaik was the CM, the MLAs, and ministers were twisting the officers around their little fingers. Now, a Minister is genuflecting before an officer to save his post. 

“One has to go through the pages of the Constitution to know who is bigger- a minister or a secretary? And for this, it is useless to blame the secretaries. Those who are worshiping the ground the secretaries are walking are lacking self-respect,” Patnaik said. 

In his response, BJD leader Anubhav Patnaik hit back at the Khandapada MLA. He took to his Twitter handle and said, “This person owes his recognition to his Late Father-in-law. When his father-in-law was CM of Odisha, he used to call him “Atharba Mukhyamantri” or Paralyzed CM. This ungrateful person has suddenly started liking his Late Father-in-law.” (sic)

Earlier, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik had expressed his concern over secretaries becoming more powerful than the people’s representatives in his editorial ‘Ama Gharara Halchal.” He had also said the Chief Minister is required to clarify if he is aware of the 5T secretary utilising the powers. 

Two days ago, he attended the foundation day of the Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo (MSCB) University in Baripada as a guest. He didn’t let go of the opportunity to launch a veiled attack on the state government. While addressing the students, he asked, why does the government fear student elections? Not holding student elections will result in a dearth of leaders, he said.  

Political analyst Rabi Das said, “We can’t deny that the people of Odisha have been giving power to Naveen Patnaik. But the clout being enjoyed by the leaders of other political parties is decreasing in Odisha.”

“He has seen the previous government from the inside. He has also seen the present government from the inside. So he is drawing a comparison between the two governments,” Das added.