Bhubaneswar: It was on this day four years ago that marked the beginning of the fall of the once all-powerful Pyari Mohan Mohapatra following his ‘midnight coup’ to unseat the BJD supremo and chief minister Naveen Patnaik. However, political analysts say it will be the Rajya Sabha poll just two weeks away, which would mark the end of the road for the veteran and astute leader.
“30 rooms in Swosti Plaza hotel were reserved and a date was fixed for a meeting with the Governor. Besides, a decision was taken to invite 22-24 Congress MLAs not to join the BJD, but to join the coup. All these plans were meticulously arranged. If he says these are all lies, what can I do?” BJD leader Damodar Rout told media persons here today.
Though Mohapatra had told the media persons soon after his expulsion from the BJD that it was a pressure tactics by the party supremo asking the ruling MLAs not to meet him, there were no comments from him on the incident that had taken place on the night of May 29.
“The kind of behaviour he (Naveen) had shown to me and the instruction he had given to his party MLAs not to meet me made it amply clear that it was his pressure tactics on me. Frankly, I had no ambitions. But the chief minister acted with an avowed intent to keep me out of the party affairs. Now I realise that I did a mistake. I should have had the ambition to topple this useless man,” he had said.
With the tenure of Mahapatra in Rajya Sabha scheduled to expire on July 1, senior BJD leaders believe that the political career of this veteran leader will end as the possibility of his recall to the party fold is remote.
“There is no doubt that an attempt was made to unseat the chief minister. This was admitted by the BJD MLAs who were roped in for the meeting. Talking all these into consideration, I don’t think the party supremo will ever think of re-inducting Mohapatra in the party,” BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said.
Senior journalist Rabi Das said though there is no possibility of a political comeback for Mahapatra, he can be a political consultant as he was well acquainted with the political leaders in each place of the state during his stint in the BJD.