Why Odisha Governor Raghubar Das is facing BJD ire over Jharkhand polls

While the Raj Bhavan did not comment on the BJD’s allegations, the BJP urged it to refrain from dragging the Raj Bhavan into politics.

The BJD’s accusations come in the wake of visits by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and former Vice President and BJP veteran M Venkaiah Naidu to the Raj Bhavan in late September.

The office of the former Vice President has clarified that “no political colour should be attributed to (Naidu’s) visit to any part of the country in general, and to Bhubaneswar, Odisha recently, in particular”. An official statement said Naidu was in Bhubaneswar to attend a convocation as the chief guest in an appearance that was scheduled months ago.

“Even as the Assam CM clarified (to the media) that his visit was for personal reasons, the incidents that followed, including Odisha CM Mohan Majhi’s visit to Jharkhand to meet Odia people, whose numbers are sizable there, proved that the Assam CM’s visit was for political reason,” said BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sulata Deo.

Deo claimed there was “speculation” that Das might return to electoral politics and contest the coming Assembly elections in tribal-dominated Jharkhand. “We don’t bother whether he contests polls or not but the Odisha Raj Bhavan shouldn’t be made a political hub. The sanctity and dignity of the Raj Bhavan shouldn’t be demeaned,” said Deo, who addressed a press conference on this matter along with Rajya Sabha colleague Sasmit Patra.

On the issue of Das’s son facing assault charges, the BJD said the government took no action despite assurances that it would act within 15 days.

Even though the Raj Bhavan had no confrontation with the BJD government, unlike in other non-BJP ruled states, what caused disquiet in the Patnaik-led party were the district visits undertaken by Das immediately after taking over as the Governor.

Das, 69, who is more politically savvy and active than Lal started touring all 30 districts and directly engaged with people at hospitals, schools and villages, which was considered uncommon for any Governor. After the visits, he also wrote to the CM on issues of governance.

Though the regional party, while in power, chose not to react to the district tours, they created a flutter in the BJD camps as they coincided with frequent tours made by former bureaucrat and Patnaik aide V K Pandian.

“While Pandian’s visits were grand affairs managed by the state machinery, the Governor had a different approach by directly meeting people about their grievances and keeping the visits low-key, which was better appreciated,” a BJD leader said.

BJD insiders said while the BJP’s central leadership had a “soft approach” towards the BJD before the polls and had never shown “much interest” in the Odisha Assembly elections, it was Das who apprised the BJP leadership of the anger among people about Pandian’s growing influence.

The BJP subsequently decided to go guns blazing against the BJD based on the feedback Das provided, said a leader of the regional party. “The BJP’s central leadership had more concern for the Lok Sabha polls and didn’t bother much for the Assembly polls. At one point, the BJP leadership had also agreed on an alliance with the BJD despite the strong reservations of state BJP leaders. Das had a crucial role in persuading the BJP top brass not to ally with the BJD,” the BJD leader added.

Since the poll defeat, Naveen Patnaik has taken a dig at the Governor on multiple occasions over the accusations against his son. In July, the former CM led the walkout by Opposition MLAs in the Assembly during the Governor’s customary speech to protest the inaction over the issue. In a reference to the accusations, Patnaik said while launching his party’s annual padayatra on Gandhi Jayanti that government employees were “not feeling safe even in the Raj Bhavan”.