Dharmendra’s gesture for Naveen wins hearts
It is rare in politics to see a politician show compassion or be very caring to rivals in public that too just after a bitter and acrimonious electoral battle. Such a gesture of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at a recent event hosted by a vernacular media outlet won hearts all around. The event was going on in a hall of a hotel in Bhubaneswar when Pradhan noticed Naveen feeling uncomfortable in the AC chill and immediately indicated to the organisers and floor attendants to raise the AC temperature. By the time the CM’s security officers got him a shawl, the job was done. You may call it just a courtesy out of respect for a gentleman politician, Pradhan’s gesture, merely a few days after he launched a strong attack against Naveen, even terming him a ‘liar’, during the campaigning for Padampur bypoll, drew much appreciation from the audience. While it revealed the other side of Pradhan’s personality, it also showed that political differences do not mean all compassion and empathy have to be shunned.
~ Hemant Kumar Rout
Congress back to usual business
Congress leaders are now back to their usual business. For the last three years, a majority of them were busy petitioning the high command or rushing to New Delhi to meet national leaders for replacing the then-president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik. The plea was the humiliating performance of Congress in the 2019 elections and the by-elections fought under his leadership. Niranjan was eventually changed five months back and Sarat Pattanayak was put in the saddle. Everybody thought that the perennial dissidents in the party will remain silent for at least a few months. But such is the nature of Congress politics that knives are out against the new OPCC president once again after the recent back-to-back loss of the party candidates in two bypolls. With the next general elections a little more than a year away, how the clamour will fare is anybody’s guess.
~ Bijay Chaki
BJP serious about early Assembly polls
With Padampur bypoll over, the BJP has settled down to business. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who was on a two-day visit to the state held a closed-door meeting with senior leaders of the party including Leader of Opposition Jayanaran Mishra. Pradhan who hinted at early elections for the Assembly is stated to have instructed the party to brace up for the next elections as time is very short. While the BJD is facing a problem of plenty so far as aspirants for party ticket is concerned, the saffron party is facing a herculean task of finding suitable candidates to give a proper fight to the formidable BJD. The immediate task assigned by Pradhan to the state party leaders was to make a survey in each constituency to find suitable candidates. The top functionaries of the party are meeting sometime next week to chart out the criteria for candidate selection.
~ Bijoy Pradhan