Naveen spares no one

By Dhrutikam Mohanty
Naveen spares no one, when his clean image is at stake. Once again the Orissa Chief Minister has displayed that he will not allow any stain on his spotless kurta. He finally acted tough over the alleged sexual harassment scandal to save his own image as well as the image of his party and the government. He did not hesitate to oust his closest associate Debasis Nayak and a trusted lieutenant Maheswar Mohanty to give an end to the week long political crisis and turmoil over sexual slur.
On 25th March, the only lady marshal of Orissa Legislative Assembly Gayatri Panda had dropped a bombshell when she leveled the charges of sexual harassment against the Speaker Maheswar Mohanty. “He would make inappropriate gestures and send his driver and staff to persuade me to indulge in a physical relation with him,” she had charged, adding that Mohanty had sent his official car to her house around midnight on two occasions. As assembly was on session, Speaker gave a personal clarification on the floor of the house, 'It’s a conspiracy against me. Big wigs are involved in the plot. And I will not sit on the Chair till the Assembly Committee does not give its report.' The Opposition parties led by the Congress had stalled the proceedings of the assembly demanding an independent probe of the allegations. Leader of Opposition J.B. Pattnayak demanded the resignation of Speaker and a CBI probe. Interestingly, chief minister Naveen Patnaik who normally on any sensational issue instantly reacts - "law will take its own course"; did not agree for any 'impartial enquiry' nor did he ask the speaker to step down as demanded by the opposition. Situation took a new turn when Media reports suggested that Minister of State for Information and Public Relation Mr. Debashis Nayak was behind the conspiracy as the suspended female employee Gayatri Panda is reportedly close to him. Even some local media published photographs establishing the link.

This u-turn made it clear that the whole scenario is an outcome of murky political rivalry between two stalwart leaders of ruling Biju Janta Dal. Maheswar Mohanty was also in a combating mood. His supporters came down to street and organized road shows and protest rallies in his constituency and capital city Bhubaneswar openly condemning Mr. Nayak and Ms.Panda as conspirators. This foul play hampered the image of BJD in public and opposition congress utilized this opportunity to make mockery of Chief minister. Meanwhile senior party leaders and workers had alleged that it was Nayak, the person behind the conspiracy to tarnish the Speaker's image. Naveen, who is known for taking quick decisions whenever such issues come to the fore threatening to blemish his own clean image or the reputation of his party or government. But this time he took a long time to react. Although the prediction was that Naveen would not dare to touch Debasis as he is privy to all his secrets, but all was proved to be wrong. He preferred to sack him and directed the other stalwart of the party, the Speaker to resign.
Political pundits feel that the immediate problem for the BJD Boss is over and the opposition parties was made flat by the double dhamaka. But the future of BJD in Puri and Jajpur district of Orissa will be in jeopardy, they apprehended. Naveen has once again shown his political acumen in turning a crisis into an opportunity. On 31st March, while a serious crisis was looming large, Naveen handled the situation with a much-matured manner than his predecessors.