By Sandeep Sahu
Why is Naveen Patnaik not interested in national politics? It is all too obvious that the answer that he gave at the Odisha Literary Festival organized by The New Indian Express on Sunday evening – “I am happy to serve my state” – which, by the way, has been his stock answer whenever this question has been posed to him – has to be taken with a bagful of salt. There has to be something more substantial than that for the BJD supremo and the longest serving Chief Minister of the state to rule himself out of what would have been the most natural course for a leader of his stature when leaders of parties with less than one third of his MPs are dying to have a piece of action at the national level. After all, there is no fundamental conflict between his desire to serve the state and playing a bigger role in national politics. Did he not serve the state when he was the Union minister for Steel and Mines in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government?
Since no one – just no one, whether in his party or outside – can ever hope to peep into the inscrutable ways in which the mind of this enigmatic politician works, the best one can do is to resort to an enlightened conjecture about the reasons for his apparent distaste of national politics. This author would stick his neck out and say a reluctance to shun his ‘comfort zone’ for the hurly burly of national politics is at the top of the list of possible reasons. Dealing with the likes of Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati et al is clearly not a very alluring proposition for someone who has always reveled in his glorious isolation. Since he burst into the political arena in Odisha on a cold December night in 1997, Naveen has always positioned himself as the sole vote catcher for his party, leaving the mundane business of running the party to his minders. But that is obviously not a luxury that he can expect to enjoy in national politics.
A second possible reason for his diffidence could well be his all too obvious lack of oratorical skills. The man who has ruled Odisha for 16 years at a stretch reading out prepared texts in front of TV cameras or in public meetings obviously knows his limitations in articulation. [One has to thank the organizers of the Odisha Literary Festival because that has been just about the only occasion in the last couple of years when he has spoken extempore, though only in pithy one-liners!] Naveen is aware he is not a great public speaker, an essential attribute in a leader aspiring for a major role in national politics.
A third reason for his decision to stay away from national politics has to be his fierce desire to protect his private space. He has been the quintessential loner, who has always guarded his privacy zealously and rarely met anyone or concerned himself with the business of administration after evening – a fact that came to the fore most tellingly when Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to get through to him on phone after the fire mishap at the SUM hospital last month. This again is not something that a national level leader can hope to continue.
The fourth reason is his comfort level with the people of Odisha. Successive elections have shown that for all his lack of articulation, inability to speak Odia and inaccessibility, he has a way with the people. He obviously apprehends that he may not enjoy the same rapport with people outside Odisha. Just imagine Naveen addressing an Opposition rally in say Muzzarfarpur on Karimanagar and you will get the drift of what I am trying to say. His decision to stay put in Odisha has clearly strengthened his bonding with the people of the state and he may well be wary of loosening this bond once he decides to make a foray into national politics.
There could be other reasons too behind his steadfast decision to confine himself to the state. But they are for our political pundits to find out. This author has always been intrigued by the reluctance (or is it inability?) of our seasoned political observers to delve deep into this important question. Having set the ball rolling, here is hoping that they would start doing that from now on.