Bhubaneswar: As battle lines get drawn in the Parliament over the Delhi Services Bill that proposes to give the Union government control over transfers and postings of Delhi bureaucrats, the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) decision to support the controversial legislation has once again put a question mark over its claim of maintaining equidistance from both the Congress and the BJP. Patnaik’s move is likely to be put under scrutiny by many observers, given the fact that he has steadfastly refused to be a part of the opposition front INDIA, and supported the Narendra Modi government on contentious legislations in the Parliament simultaneously.
With general elections around the corner – and the BJD leadership having already begun the preliminary candidate selection exercise – hardly anyone in the party is willing to comment on the regional outfit’s decision to back the NDA on the Bill which has emerged as a major flashpoint between the Modi government and the Opposition.
The ones who spoke simply parroted that the party trusts the wisdom of its president and chief minister Naveen Patnaik in such matters. “The chief minister always takes a stand that is in the interest of the state and the nation. There can be no doubt about that,” said senior party leader and Barachana MLA Amar Prasad Satpathy. Similar views were expressed by Morada MLA Rajkishore Das. “See this is election time and the chief minister will be extremely cautious about whatever he does. If he has decided that the party should support the Bill he must have done it in the best interests of us all,” said Das.
Off the record, however, some BJD leaders admitted that the party’s move was surprising considering that the Bill was an attempt at curbing the powers of a state government.
“Ours is a regional party and we should be able to understand better than others that this is a bid to encroach upon the powers of an elected state government. This goes against the principles of federal democracy,” remarked a senior party leader who did not wish to be identified. Speaking on the conditions of anonymity, yet another BJD leader criticised the Bill and questioned the intentions of the Union government. “In a federal structure every state has to have a certain degree of autonomy. This Bill militates against the very spirit of federalism. Under normal circumstances we should not be supporting it,” he said.
The general feeling within the party is that with general elections drawing closer Patnaik is keen to ensure that his friendly equations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi are not disturbed. Both the leaders have enjoyed extremely cordial relations despite the fact that BJD and BJP happen to be political rivals in the state. Both Modi and Patnaik have refrained from attacking each other even in election rallies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Odisha after cyclone Amphan in 2020. Photo: Twitter/@Naveen_Odisha
It’s a mutually beneficial friendship that suits both sides. While Modi has almost always had the support of BJD in the parliament over crucial issues including scrapping of Article 370, Triple Talaq and the passage of Citizenship Amendment Bill,Patnaik has been receiving generous financial assistance from the Union government in the wake of natural disasters which continue to undermine the state’s economy. After the central government granted an assistance of Rs 3338 crore to the state in the aftermath of cyclone Fani – which cut a swathe through coastal Odisha in 2019 – many began to see Modi as a saviour. That image of the prime minister has remained, thanks to BJP’s propaganda.
Patnaik, in fact, went a step further in 2019 and supported the candidature of the current railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for the Rajya Sabha from Odisha. He did this on special request from Modi and his right hand man, Union home minister Amit Shah as the BJP did not have enough MLAs in Odisha to get Vaishnaw elected to the Upper House.
Patnaik backed Vaishnaw’s candidature despite facing criticism for deviating from his avowed policy of maintaining equidistance from BJP and Congress. Leaders of the BJD, in fact, have been trying to justify such deviations by asserting that their party has been offering issue-based support to the NDA government at the Centre while keeping the interests of the state and the country in mind.
Senior Congress leader and former MLA Dr. Lalatendu Mohapatra, however, lambasted the duplicity of the BJD leadership and accused it of sacrificing principles for the sake of political expediency. “The BJD is completely devoid of principles. It is indulging in the politics of opportunism. They will support the Delhi Services Bill in the parliament because they want to maintain good relations with the BJP central leadership. They are only pretending to fight the BJP in Odisha. We know it is a fixed bout,” said Mohapatra adding that the fear of CBI cases against some BJD leaders in the chit fund scam being revived by the central government is also playing on the minds of the party strategists.
Between 2014 and 2017 the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested two MLAs of the party for their alleged involvement in the multi-crore ponzi scam. Both were denied tickets in 2019 assembly polls but their sons were fielded by the party.
The lone Congress MP from Odisha in the Lok Sabha, Saptagiri Ulaka, felt that BJD has decided to support the Delhi Services Bill as part of some quid pro quo arrangement. “I think there is a deal. This is a sign of desperation,” said Ulaka who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Koraput.
Political analysts like Shashi Kant Mishra, however, do not find BJD’s move surprising. “There is a pattern to it. We have seen it happen right from the beginning. Even though Patnaik broke away from the BJP in Odisha in 2009, his relations with the party’s central leaders have always been cordial. He has always been closer to them than the Congress. He has studiously avoided becoming part of any political formation or alliance against the BJP or the current NDA bloc because he realises that he is not going to gain from this in any way. It suits his politics to be on the side of the BJP-led NDA without making the arrangement formal. He would never like his friendly equations with the prime minister to be disturbed,” said Mishra.