BHUBANESWAR: Senior leader Soumya Ranjan Patnaik on Wednesday called upon BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik to run the party in a democratic manner and play the role of Opposition in an effective manner.
Addressing a media conference here, Patnaik said after 24 years, people of the state have now given mandate for him to sit in the Opposition. “People have voted for him to sit in the Opposition. I think he will play the role of an ideal Opposition,” he added.
Referring to the massive defeat of the BJD in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the former MLA said the chief minister does not want to listen to truth and wants to run the party with the help of slaves. “But the person who thinks truth is a burden does not last in the present political system,” he added. Running a political party with the help of hangers on and slaves lands oneself in such difficulties (the poll debacle), Patnaik said and added that there is still time for a course correction in the BJD so that it can play the role of a good Opposition. “There is need of a strong Opposition in the state and I think the people of the state will cooperate with him in this endeavour,” he added.
Patnaik said the process for expelling him from the BJD started after he raised questions on the supremacy of a bureaucrat over elected leaders and wondered why leaders were fixing tents for bureaucrats and not getting a seat on the dais. “This type of a system creates arrogance among the bureaucrats who think they can control the chief minister and ministers and also give tickets for MLAs. This is what happened and people have replied to it in their own way,” he added.
The former MLA said the chief minister cannot now escape by putting all the blame of the election debacle on his close aide VK Pandian. “Who allowed Pandian to move across the state in helicopters, set his hand right in a public meeting,” he said and added that the chief minister will have to free himself from slaves.
Patnaik congratulated former minister Badri Narayan Patra of BJD for winning the Ghasipura Assembly seat in the election against him. He said that the election was violence-free and no booth capturing was reported. People voted freely for the first time, he added.