TNI Bureau: BJD President Naveen Patnaik sent a stern message to the leaders attempting a coup in the party, in the guise of attacking VK Pandian, who has officially retired from politics and is probably moving out of Odisha, along with his family. “I have a large Sankha Bhawan for your meetings. I disapprove your meetings at Hotels,” Naveen tells the leaders.
There was nothing else Naveen could say about VK Pandian. He said what he was supposed to say. Did anyone expect him to discard and dump Pandian, and on what basis? “He did a good job for the state and the party in the past. Don’t blame or criticize him. He left the party more than 10 months ago and is not involved in any party affairs,” says Naveen, with a loud and clear message.
While Naveen is left to deal with other issues, including Waqf fiasco, he achieved the immediate objective of silencing the critics within the party and exercised his authority.
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There are many leaders in the BJD with vested interest and hidden agenda. They tried to fish in the troubled waters and sought to launch a veiled attack on Naveen, using Pandian Factor as a shield. However, Naveen yet again proved to be smart and thwarted their ‘coup attempt’.
There is little doubt that Pandian contributed well to help Naveen Patnaik rule the party and govern the state. It’s now Naveen’s turn to bid him a dignified farewell and focus on strengthening the regional party, which still has a strong organization and resources.
However, Naveen made a goof-up today when he said Pravat Tripathy was expelled long ago and is not a member of BJD anymore. Naveen forgot that he revoked Pravat’s suspension in 2017 and even had him on the stage during the campaign trail in 2019.
The future remains uncertain and nobody can predict anything. But, for a healthy democracy, Opposition should be strong and united. That’s what Odisha needs right now.
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