The arrest of Odisha MLA Pravat Ranjan Biswal by the CBI in the mega-Ponzi scam has again exposed the deep-rooted hypocrisy and opportunism in India’s political system. By deciding to back Biswal, who is charged with receiving huge monetary benefits to help the chit fund firm Seashore Group expand its business, the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD has sent the message that it is no different from other political outfits.
Not long ago, in 2014, Naveen was quick to suspend three party leaders, including an MP and an MLA, within hours of the central agency arresting them in connection with the chit fund scam. That was when the party was fresh from a historic fourth consecutive public mandate. With the resurgence of the BJP, the BJD’s
U-turn on its stand against corruption only suggests that it is ready to make political compromises in desperate times. Instead of cracking the whip against the MLA, the BJD accused the Centre of using the CBI as a political weapon and claimed it was similar to the persecution of a non-BJP state like West Bengal. But Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has always supported her party leaders charged in the Ponzi scam. She even made it a point to visit two of its MPs undergoing treatment in Bhubaneswar after their arrest by the CBI. In stark contrast, the BJD had completely distanced itself from all its leaders charged in the Ponzi scam in the past.
This new-found sympathy for Biswal cannot just be result of the BJD’s apprehension of discontentment in the party in the event of the MLA’s suspension. Rather it has laid bare the political opportunism and double-standards of BJD as Naveen has allowed his partymen to go after the CBI to settle scores against the BJP. The party has already lost some of its credibility after the hooliganism that marked the recent hartal against fuel price hike. This will make a further dent on the BJD’s credibility. As someone who believed that the law must take its own course, Naveen must now walk his talk.