Gopalpur MLA comes under attack, all eyes again on Naveen Patnaik’s blue-eyed bureaucrat

On Friday, his vehicle was stopped at Lanjipalli square in Berhampur town, and eggs, water bottles and stones were thrown at it, allegedly by BJD supporters. Holding placards accusing the MLA of colluding with sand and liquor smugglers, the protesters shouted at him to go back. Panigrahy was stuck for around three hours in his vehicle amid the protests.

Panigrahy was stuck for around three hours in his vehicle amid the protests. (Express Photo)

“While around 4,000 policemen are deployed for the visit of a Secretary-level officer (Pandian), no protection is being given to a peoples’ representative. Who is behind the attack on my vehicle? The matter needs to be investigated,” Panigrahy later said.

Once considered the blue-eyed boy of Naveen Patnaik, Panigrahy was expelled from the BJD in November 2020 for “anti-people” activities. In December 2020, he was arrested by the Odisha Police Crime Branch on charges of forgery, fraud and criminal conspiracy and accusations of duping several job aspirants on the pretext of giving them employment in Tata Motors. On August 21, a local court framed charges against Panigrahy and two others in the alleged fake job racket case.

Panigrahy had raised questions over the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in Ganjam, the state’s most populous district. He wrote multiple letters to the CM, alleging that the government was ignoring suggestions of the local MLAs for effective handling of the pandemic.

Holding placards accusing the MLA of colluding with sand and liquor smugglers, the protesters shouted at him to go back. (Express Photo)

According to BJD insiders, his fallout with Pandian was the key reason behind his expulsion from the ruling party.

Since he first came to prominence in 2019, Pandian has become an increasingly key figure in Patnaik’s inner circle. His work as a district collector in Mayurbhanj and Ganjam is believed to have drawn the attention of Patnaik, who appointed him in 2011 as his private secretary, a post Pandian has held ever since. As Patnaik largely retreats from public appearances, Pandian has been touring the state on the CM’s behalf – unaffected by the Opposition’s protests.

Pandian, who generally confines his speeches to the government’s schemes and programmes, also took a dig at Panigrahy. At a meeting in the Gopalpur constituency, the bureaucrat, without taking Panigrahy’s name, said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, a public representative from the district called the CM and requested not to bring back the district’s migrant workers from different parts of the country.