BHUBANESWAR: The war of words between Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik dates back to days when as the environment minister the former wanted strict compliance to laws for the establishment of the Posco steel plant, the largest ever foreign direct investment (FDI), near Paradip and the Vedanta alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi.
The latest missive from Ramesh to Patnaik, that there are large numbers of tribals in jails in Odisha, is nothing new as the Union minister finds himself always on the wrong side of the Odisha CM. Political observers maintain that the latest letter of Ramesh who once described Patnaik as 'my friend' was to embarrass him on the tribal issue. “Naveen is a good friend. He snubs me and at the same time praises me,” Ramesh had said during a visit to the state in August last year.
Patnaik had recently sought to play the tribal card by announcing support for former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma in the presidential race and Jairam's letter is seen as one aimed at running down that pro-tribal campaign of the Odisha CM.
Ramesh’s run-in with the state government started after he set up two committees in 2010—the Meena Gupta committee and Saxena committee—to find out whether environmental laws were flouted in the process of establishment of the Posco project. The environment ministry, headed by Ramesh, had also suspended the environmental clearance given to the Vedanta refinery project at Lanjigarh.
Even as the local resistance to the land acquisition for the Posco steel project gathered momentum, Ramesh had advised the state government last year to ensure that land was acquired in a peaceful and law-governed means. What came as a further embarrassment to the state government was Ramesh's statement that environmental clearance for the project cannot be used as a licence to forcible acquisition of land.
Patnaik had, however, shot back saying his government was all for peaceful industrialisation. Ramesh's enthusiasm to implement environmental laws took a political colour when the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) launched ‘save Odisha campaign’ in response. The minister, however, rubbished the BJD's charge that he and his UPA government were creating hurdles in the path of Odisha's development by derailing projects.
Before that, the Union minister's decision to reject the proposal to mine Niyamgiri for bauxite had come as a jolt for Patnaik. The ministry had issued a show cause notice threatening cancellation of the alumina refinery for alleged violation of laws. What was embarrassing for the CM was that the cancellation came despite hectic lobbying by him in New Delhi during August 2010.
“He (Ramesh) had never mentioned about this rejection of clearance to Vendanta's mining proposal,” Naveen had said and added, “I hope this is not politics.”
Besides Posco and Vedanta, the two leaders also fought over other issues also. After he took over as Rural Development Minister, Ramesh had said in a letter to Patnaik on November 5, 2011 that the state government could not spend funds during the last fiscal under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP). Patnaik, however, replied that the Centre had released funds in March, so it could not be spent.
On other issues, including utilisation of funds under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) for 2010-11 and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the two leaders exchanged letters.