“We are solely responsible for the dismal show of Congress is due to our sheer inability, indiscipline and lack of willingness to reach out to the people. We have no other option other than accepting defeat and giving respect to the people’s mandate,” senior Congress leader and former Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik told media persons here today.
Such is the dimension of the defeat of the Congress that it is yet to open its account in 18 out of 30 districts in the state after the second phase panchayat polls results of which have been declared unofficially. The party has been able to capture one Zilla Parishad (ZP) seat each in seven districts. The party has managed to win 5 ZP seats in Rayagada district and three ZP seats each in Sundargarh and Gajapati districts. However, it has put up a sterling show in Jharsuguda district by capturing 5 out of 9 ZP seats under the leadership of local MLA Naba Das and is all set to form the Zilla Parishad.
Opposition chief whip and Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said the Congress has pushed to the third place behind BJP in the Panchayat polls due to weak organisational leadership. “The financial strength of Congress became precarious as the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) allotted a meagre Rs 25,000 to each ZP to contest the polls. As a result, the local party leaders were frustrated and did not take any initiative.
It may be recalled that the Congress in the last Panchayat polls had won 45 ZP seats in the first two phases the number of which has come down to almost half (25) this time. Though the number might be a little more or less, the fact remains that the Congress has nearly lost its entity in the panchayat polls this year.
Former chief minister Hemananda Biswal said the senior Congress leaders are not actively involved in the organisation of the party at the grassroots level. As a result, the party workers are unable to influence the people.
While most of the party heavyweights including the leader of the Opposition Narasingh Mishra have failed to ensure victory in their respective area, former MP Pradip Majhi has been able to upkeep his image by winning two ZP zones in Nabarangpur district in two phases.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled a 10-ft statue of the three-time chief minister at a park named after him at Khurda.
The chief minister said, “Today is first death anniversary of the former chief minister JB Patnaik. He was an erudite scholar and eminent literary figure. He served the country in various capacities. I pay my sincere tributes to him.”
Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Petroleum Minister, who was present at the function, stated, “Janaki Babu is a symbol of our Odia glory. His life has inspired many. I feel myself lucky to be attending his first death anniversary.”
Niranjan Patnaik, Senior Congress leader, said, “We should be inspired by his vision and work for the development of the State.”
Lulu Mohapatra, senior Congress leader, said, “He (Janaki Ballav Patnaik) used to say if I have to drink poison for the interest of Congress, I will do the same.”
At Athagarh and Cuttack, the local Congress units held functions to mark the occasion and paid tributes to the former chief minister.
Prakash Behera, President, Cuttack District Congress Committee, said, “No one can match his (Janaki Ballav Patnaik’s) qualities. On his first death anniversary, not only the Congress, the whole state remembers him.”
Bhubaneswar: Internationally acclaimed Odia filmmaker Sabyasachi Mohapatra on Saturday announced the launch of what he had been living with for more than 25 years – “Bhumi Putra” (Son of Soil), a film on the life of legendary leader and former Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik.
Speaking to Odishatv.in, Mohapatra said: “After speaking to a lot of people, including my family members, I have decided to make a film on Biju Patnaik, whom I have always admired as a human being as well as a great leader."
“Biju Patnaik had asked me to meet him after my first film ‘Bhukha’ (Starved) got an award at the Dubai International Film Festival in 1989,” the acclaimed filmmaker revealed.
He said he had met Patnaik three times to discuss the project. During these meetings, the former CM had shared many interesting facts about his life which many people are unaware of even today, he added.
"Though I had completed the script in the early nineties, it needs to re-written now as so many things have happened and there has been a huge time gap," Mohapatra informed.
On being asked who will play the role of Biju Patanik, he said he had already started a hunt all over India to find an actor who can play the character.
“As this film will be made both in Odia and Hindi, and will be a big-budget film, our first priority is to find an actor who can match the towering personality of Biju Patnaik,” the ace filmmaker said.
He also said that it is a challenge for him to find an actor with the physical features and charisma of Biju Patnaik.
The director, who is planning to cover all incidents of Biju Patnaik’s life, will shoot the movie at different locations in India and abroad.
There is also plan to shoot in Indonesia, where the former Chief Minister had a great fan following after his famous rescue mission during that country's liberation struggle.
The film, to be produced under his own banner Mohapatra Movie Magic Private Ltd, will be two-hour long, targeted to release in 2016.
A host of leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and people from different walks of life, paid tribute to the great and visionary leader on his 100th birth anniversary on March 5.
Mohapatra, who has won several awards for his last two critically-acclaimed films, ‘Sala Budha’ and ‘Aadim Vichar’, is busy with post production work of ‘Pahada Ra Luha’ ( Tears of Mountain), which also deals with the problems of Tribal communities and the changes in their lives due to displacement and mining.
On the day of his death anniversary, there is one thing that can be said about Biju Patnaik without any fear of ever being proved wrong: there will never be anyone like him.
He is unique because he is impossible to slot. How does one describe him? A politician? That would be a great injustice to the great man. A visionary? He indeed was a visionary, but is it all there is to him? A statesman? That is perhaps more like it; but it still describes only a part, not the whole. People often throw around the term ‘a man of many parts’ rather casually. But if there ever was a man who fits the description, it has to be the man we all fondly call Biju Babu.
His exploits in multiple arenas – from industry to aviation to politics – are far too well known to bear repetition. His daredevilry – from dropping off essential supplies to beleaguered Indian troops in Kashmir soon after Independence to the stunning mission on a Dakota to rescue Indonesian leader Sultan Shahrir and his wife – is the stuff of folklore.
That is why I would rather talk about a side to Biju Patnaik that is seldom talked about: the ‘humanist’ in him. As someone who has had the good fortune of observing this side of him up close, a few anecdotes from the distant past come rushing out of the deep recesses of memory to illuminate the mind space.
Years ago, while roaming deep inside Bhitarkanika trying to put together a story on – what else – environment, I, along with good friend Tapan Padhi, strayed into a lowly, thatched, mud walled house – more out of curiosity than anything else. We were handsomely rewarded for this curiosity. Sitting in a room that could not have been bigger than 8’’X 8’’ and doubled up both as the living room and a drawing room, we got talking to Panu, who must have been in his 70s at the time, in the flickering light of a dibiri (power was a distant dream for the area at the time). All I had to do was broach the name of Biju Babu (as someone who studied in Kendrapara, I knew the special bond the people of the area had with the big man) and the man took us down memory lane, recalling anecdote after anecdote that unveiled the human side of Biju before me.
“A few years ago, budha (literally meaning ‘old man’ but a term of endearment in Odia) turned up late one afternoon and told me; Panu. I am really hungry. Give me something to eat. I was so embarrassed. There was nothing at home other than some pakhala. Sensing my discomfiture, budha said; ‘I am sure you have some pakhala. Give me some with some salt – and onion, if you have it.” I could barely watch him gorging on some sour pakhala, raw onion and salt,” Panu went on. Even in the faint, flickering light of the dibiri, I could clearly see tears rolling down the cheeks of the old man.
Good friend Mohan Jena, the former Jajpur MP, gave me a second peep into the human side of Biju Patnaik that many didn’t even know existed. Mohan, who was then a leader of the DSO, had gone to Biju, who was then Chief Minister, for some help for a major surgery that his party colleague had to undergo. Given the state of health care facilities in the state at the time, the operation could only have been done in AIIMS, New Delhi. “How much do you need?” asked the Chief Minister. “Rs 1, 000 should be good enough,” Mohan said, eager not to appear greedy. Biju Babu took out some money, put it into an envelope and handed it over to Mohan. After coming back, Mohan found, to his utter surprise, that there were currency notes worth Rs 3, 000 in the envelope. Honest man that he was, Mohan rushed back (Yes, it was possible to do that when he was Chief Minister!) and told him; “I had asked only for Rs 1, 000. I think you have given Rs 3, 000 by mistake”. Pat came the reply; “Not by mistake, young man. You will need it. Delhi is not Bhubaneswar. Do you know how much it would cost you just to commute to AIIMS for a few days?” Mohan kept the money, went to Delhi and got his colleague admitted to AIIMS – only to find that Biju Babu had personally called the AIIMS Director urging him to ensure the best possible care for his friend!
My first encounter with the man turned out to be a memorable affair. Biju Patnaik, as Chief Minister, had just returned from a tour of Rourkela where my father was the Municipality Executive Officer. He had been presented a memento by the Municipality which his staff had mistakenly left behind in Rourkela. My father had entrusted me the onerous task of handing over the memento personally to Biju in the belief – mistaken though in my case - that journalists have easier access to the Chief Minister. As someone who was still in the confines of what is often derisively called the ‘desk’, I didn’t see a chance in hell of meeting the Chief Minister. It is here that my friend Biren, who lived right next to Naveen Nivas, came to my rescue. He advised me to land at the Chief Minister’s place with the gift ‘before 6’. And how it worked! As I was trying to explain to the lone policeman at the gate (how things have changed!!!) the purpose of my visit, I heard the familiar baritone asking the guard to let me in. I made my way gingerly to the balcony where Biju Babu had ensconced himself on his favourite chair. As I nervously told him what had brought me there, he asked; “What do you do?” “I work in Sun Times,” I replied, still nervous. “Oh, I see. Soumya’s English paper, right? Good. Have something,” he said pointing to a host of eatables on a table: bakery, fruits and other such stuff. I tried to excuse myself, but there was no way I could ignore his love-tinged command.
My first encounter with him as a ‘proper’ journalist was no less memorable. I had just made a transition to a national English magazine as its Odisha Correspondent and was almost immediately assigned by my Editor to do an interview with the Chief Minister. “How the hell do I get to him?” I wondered. Having just become a reporter after a long stint in the desk, I didn’t have even have a pass to enter the secretariat. Even if I had managed to sneak in (Yes, it was possible to do that in those good old days even if you were not a journalist), the chances of getting an appointment with him was negligible. On an elder’s advice, I called up the land line (those were pre-mobile days) at his residence, hoping to get someone a little friendlier than the CM’s grunt PRO. “Who is it?” thundered the voice from the other side. It did not take me a second to realise that it was the big man himself. [I came to know later that he was in the habit of picking up his phone.] The interview was fixed at the party office near Forest Park at 5 pm the next day.
As I reached the Janata Dal office, I saw a 200+ crowd already assembled there and thought my interview was gone with the March wind. Three minutes before the scheduled interview, the familiar Kalinga Ratha entered the premises. Biju Babu got down and was immediately mobbed by the waiting crowd. “I will listen to you all. But wait. Where is the man from Sun Times?” he boomed. I raised my hand in a desperate bid to catch his attention. He waved me to come to the appointed room.
As I was settling down for the interview, pen and pad in hand, Biju Babu said; “You have just 10 minutes, OK? I am sure you saw all those people waiting for me. I have to meet them too.” “Okay, Sir,” I said before ‘firing my first salvo’ as they say. Wonder of wonders! We ended up talking for what looked like eternity, but counted just 45 minutes on the clock!!
In the days and months that followed, I met him plenty of times -not always for an interview – and every subsequent meeting brought out a new facet of the humanism in him. I remember rounding off one of the many interviews I have done with him over the years with the question; “You have lived the life of a king. How would you like to die?” (In retrospect, it appears rather audacious to ask the sitting Chief Minister a question like that. But maybe some of his audacity was beginning to rub off on me!). The answer was a classic, something that I would treasure all my life. “I would like to die a pauper,” said the great man.
Years later (20 years to this day, to be exaxct), looking at the sea of humanity eagerly waiting on either side of the road from Bhubaneswar to Puri for one last glimpse of their beloved Biju Babu on his funeral procession, I couldn’t help mutter to myself; “This man has indeed died the richest man in recent memory. He is carrying the love and affection of so many to the grave.”
(Note: This tribute was written last year and is being reproduced on the occasion of Biju Patnaik’s 20th death anniversary today)
Addressing party workers on PDP's foundation day, Mufti said: "Anybody trying to fiddle with Article 35A would be playing with dynamite. It would have such disastrous consequences that nobody would be able to control."
She said her party would stand like a rock for the protection of state's special status and that she was ready to go to jail while protecting the same.
Mufti also criticized former Chief Minister and Vice President of the National Conference (NC), Omar Abdullah, for saying that the decision of the Supreme Court on Article 35A would be accepted by the NC.
"No tinkering of any sort by anybody with Article 35A would be acceptable to the people of Jammu and Kashmir," she asserted.