BJD won’t split, but MLAs angry
31 May 2012 1:41 AM GMT
Grievances in the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) have increased but there are no plans for a split, the senior leader Pyarimohan Mohapatra said on Wednesday amid speculation that the Naveen Patnaik government could face dissent for the first time in 12 years.
Venting his ire, the Rajya Sabha MP, who on Tuesday night held a meeting with a large number of legislators at his residence, said that people in the party were unhappy. He said that party members who had met him said that they were unhappy because bureaucrats did not listen to them. He also said that some ministers had told him that their secretaries ignored them.
Mohapatra, 72, did not name Patnaik but said that people with vested interests were trying to create indiscipline in the party and were not being checked despite repeated reminders. 'For one-and-a-half years, I have been pointing out instances of indiscipline in the party but no action was taken,' he said. He denied speculations that he planned to dethrone Patnaik.
Despite the denial, Mohapatra has been accused by some in the party of attempting to destabilise Patnaik. Tuesday night's meeting is being seen by many as a sign of revolt in the ruling party in Odisha. A large number of legislators of the same party, including some ministers, also held similar meetings in different places in support of Mohapatra. These meetings ran till late after midnight.
Mohapatra has been chief advisor to Patnaik for the past decade and appears to be unhappy after he was sidelined in recent months. As a bureaucrat, the Left-leaning Mohapatra had served Biju Patnaik – Naveen Patnaik's legendary father – when he was the chief minister.
The 1963 batch IAS officer's involvement in politics began when Patnaik senior appointed him principal secretary during his tenure as chief minister in 1990-95. Mohapatra had been a guide to Patnaik junior after the demise of Biju Patnaik in 1997.
Venting his ire, the Rajya Sabha MP, who on Tuesday night held a meeting with a large number of legislators at his residence, said that people in the party were unhappy. He said that party members who had met him said that they were unhappy because bureaucrats did not listen to them. He also said that some ministers had told him that their secretaries ignored them.
Mohapatra, 72, did not name Patnaik but said that people with vested interests were trying to create indiscipline in the party and were not being checked despite repeated reminders. 'For one-and-a-half years, I have been pointing out instances of indiscipline in the party but no action was taken,' he said. He denied speculations that he planned to dethrone Patnaik.
Despite the denial, Mohapatra has been accused by some in the party of attempting to destabilise Patnaik. Tuesday night's meeting is being seen by many as a sign of revolt in the ruling party in Odisha. A large number of legislators of the same party, including some ministers, also held similar meetings in different places in support of Mohapatra. These meetings ran till late after midnight.
Mohapatra has been chief advisor to Patnaik for the past decade and appears to be unhappy after he was sidelined in recent months. As a bureaucrat, the Left-leaning Mohapatra had served Biju Patnaik – Naveen Patnaik's legendary father – when he was the chief minister.
The 1963 batch IAS officer's involvement in politics began when Patnaik senior appointed him principal secretary during his tenure as chief minister in 1990-95. Mohapatra had been a guide to Patnaik junior after the demise of Biju Patnaik in 1997.
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