Sambalpur likely to be pitch for Bobby-Dharmendra fight
Is Jajpur MLA and BJD organising secretary Pranab Prakash Das (popularly known as Bobby Das) seriously contemplating to contest from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat? Das is learnt to have recently broached the idea with some senior journalists in a hotel of the city. He is possibly testing the waters before taking a plunge into western Odisha politics which is not only risky but may prove politically suicidal. Sources familiar with the development said Das is gauging the public mood.
Well aware of the fact that the western Odisha people are never favourably disposed towards the coastal region and more so its political leaders, Bobby thought it best to get the views of the scribes first. Ever since Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan evinced interest for the Lok Sabha seat, which he believes to be a safer bet, the name of Das for a possible nominee of BJD has been in circulation. The regional party has also set Das to counter Pradhan whenever the union minister says something against the state government, lending weight to the speculation.
~ Bijoy Pradhan
No place for Sushant Singh in BJD’s plans
That former minister and senior BJD leader Sushant Singh who had a strong organisational presence in the western Odisha districts of the state had fallen out of favour of the party bosses was known in BJD inner circles. But this came to the fore in public during the recent visit of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to Sambalpur town to dedicate the SAMALEI project. All leaders of some prominence in the region met the chief minister during the day but Sushant was conspicuous by his absence. This was big a change from the days when Sushant was given organisational charge of the entire region even though he was sulking after non-inclusion in the ministry. With elections only two months away, things do not seem to be going smooth for Sushant. Now he will have to wait till the candidates are announced for the Assembly election for revival of his political career.
~ Bijay Chaki
Big lapses take sheen off world Odia conference
The state government may be beaming with pride for organising the World Odia Language Conference just ahead of the elections, but it seems to have been a subject of trolling over several glaring mistakes. If social media discussions are any indication, the conference has laid bare the callousness of the state administration in handling some of the activities during such a prestigious event that aimed at harnessing Odia identity and the pride of the language. Not only that the problematic pronunciation by the emcee left the organisers red faced, questions are also being raised whether it was the first world Odia conference as many claimed it was the second, the first being organised in 1992. While many expressed displeasure over not inviting Odia writers and authors, wall paintings of some sons of the soil were full of errors. If former chief minister Harekrushna Mahtab’s surname was written as Mohanty and Krupasindhu Mishra was painted as Krupapasindhu, Jateeya Kabi was mentioned as Banchhanidhi Das. Some Odia speakers delivering their speech in English also drew criticism from various quarters. “The organisers could have focused more on making things error free than spending crores on preparations for the conference,” fumed social media users.
~ Hemant Kumar Rout