Amid souring BJP, BJD ties, Pradhan’s ‘lawless’ salvos at Patnaik govt signal gloves-off fight

“Lawless Odisha is a reality. High-time people in power recognise the fault-lines in the law-and-order situation in the state. Murder of young Samarth exactly within two months of the broad daylight killing of Minister Naba Kisore Das exposes Odisha govt’s tall claims on rule of law,” Pradhan tweeted.

He also alleged that neither citizens nor public representatives were safe in Odisha, stating that “Gruesome incidents like these on a regular basis, particularly in Jharsuguda have shocked everyone and weakened the trust of people of Odisha”.

Samarth, son of a local businessman, went missing from Sarbahal area in Jharsuguda on Monday afternoon. A few hours later, his parents received a call demanding ransom of Rs 50 lakh. On Tuesday morning, the police recovered Samarth’s half-burnt body. The police have arrested two persons in the case so far. Jharsuguda SP Smit Parmar said the “detailed motive” behind the crime will be ascertained after the investigation.

Underlining that no amount of empathy will bring solace to Samarth’s family, Pradhan urged the BJD government to pull up its socks to ensure rule of law and safety of citizens.

This was one of the rare occasions when Pradhan, one of the most prominent BJP leaders from Odisha, openly targeted the Patnaik government.

Keeping its focus centred on Odisha, the BJD has refrained from joining any Opposition grouping against the ruling BJP on any issue at the central level. In the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the BJD MPs remain non-committal without joining any Opposition protest against the BJP.

Pradhan’s broadside was another pointer to the BJP’s changing relations with the BJD, which is dubbed in political circles as “one of the saffron party’s most reliable friendly party inside and outside Parliament”.

Although the BJP is yet to firm up its final Odisha strategy for the 2024 polls, the party leaders have made it clear that it is in “fighting mode” against the Patnaik dispensation. “It’s time for the BJP to go for a direct battle with the BJD in the state,” said party sources.

Referring to the appointment of a grassroots OBC leader with an RSS background Manmohan Samal as the new Odisha BJP chief, who has vowed not to let the Patnaik government “sleep”, a source said, “He (Samal) is a fighter. He has taken up issues against the state government on many occasions,” adding that “If the party wanted the status quo with the BJD, the leadership would have given an extension to Samir Mohanty (former party chief).”

Sources claimed that when Patnaik got wind of the new appointment, he invited West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee to Odisha. During her three-day visit to the neighbouring state, both leaders met and held discussions. A prominent Opposition face, Mamata is trying to bring several parties together on a platform against the BJP.

“Things are changing in the Odisha Assembly too. The approach of the BJD and BJP MLAs towards each other has also undergone a change – it has become more hostile now. Leader of Opposition and Sambalpur MLA Jayanarayan Mishra is taking on Patnaik directly over corruption and apathetic governance, which is unprecedented. Now under the situation Patnaik would perforce act aggressively too,” said a source.

Pradhan’s fresh “lawless” charge came following Patnaik’s dig at his party for allegedly insulting the state. Pradhan had also expressed concern over “lawlessness” in Odisha following the murder of the health minister.

Patnaik, who also holds the home portfolio, in his reply to the budget discussion of the department on March 21, told the House that “by accusing the state as lawless, the Opposition parties are insulting the people of the state, thereby doing injustice to the peace-loving people of Odisha.”

The white paper released by the state home department on law and order situation states that there has been a 15% increase in crime rate in the state in 2022, albeit with reduction in number of rapes and murders, as compared to 2021.

Pradhan has also been vocal for the past few months over a number of other Odisha-related issues including rising incidents of forest fire and deaths of elephants.

Despite not being part of the BJP-led NDA government, the BJD with 12 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 9 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, has always extended cooperation to the government on various policy issues, in presidential elections and during passage of legislation.

Following Pradhan’s latest barb, the BJD’s leader in the Rajya Sabha, Sasmit Patra, hit back, accusing the former of “insulting the peace-loving people of Odisha”. “Don’t insult the peace-loving people of Odisha by branding them as lawless. Don’t insult Odisha for your petty political narrative. It’s surprising to see that despite you having been an Hon’ble Union Minister for so long,” Patra tweeted.