His state may be down in the bottom rungs on most human development indices, but nothing seems to affect Odisha바카라s Naveen Patnaik, the country바카라s longest-serving chief minister, who continues to tower over all others. Odisha has slipped from 15th position to 19th, figuring among the bottom five, in Niti Aayog바카라s annual ranking of states in Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Yet, Naveen바카라s image as a saviour of women remained unblemished despite crimes against women rising from 94.5 per lakh women to 103.5 in the past year even as sex ratio at birth fell from 938 to 933. Even his government바카라s unabashed promotion of liquor has failed to cut into his popularity with women, who are at the forefront of the anti-liquor movement. Most assessments said over 70 per cent of female voters voted for his party in 2019바카라the biggest reason for the BJD winning a record fifth successive term.
CM With A Teflon Coat
No dirt sticks on Naveen Patnaik. Here바카라s how.
Murders per lakh population have gone up from 2.95 to 3.01 and crimes against children from 22.70 to 49.90, while human trafficking per 10 lakh population jumped from 7.04 to 20.03 since the previous edition of the SDG report. None of this, however, has sullied Odisha바카라s carefully cultivated image as a 바카라peaceful state바카라 and Naveen바카라s image as an adroit administrator.
In the aftermath of Cyclone Yaas, which ravaged parts of Odisha바카라s northern coast, Naveen did something no other CM had ever done바카라he refused to ask for central assistance, saying he did not want to 바카라burden바카라 the Centre that needs resources for the difficult war against Covid. This was packaged as an act of 바카라statesmanship바카라 and acknowledged as such by a country long used to states running with a begging bowl to the Centre every time disaster struck. For a change, it appeared as though the Centre was holding the begging bowl. Naveen, in fact, won appreciation when he met PM Narendra Modi, especially in the backdrop of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee skipping her meeting with the PM.
The real reason for the 바카라statesman-like바카라 act, however, lay elsewhere. Yaas was no Fani (2019), not even Amphan (2020), and the damage it wrought was minimal바카라mostly in two districts. The state바카라s assessment put the loss at no more than Rs 600 crore. In any case, notwithstanding the CM바카라s refusal to ask for assistance, the PM had announced an immediate assistance of Rs 500 crore after an aerial survey of the affected areas. 바카라Odisha did not need any immediate assistance as it already had over Rs 1,900 crore in its state disaster response fund, nearly Rs 600 crore of which had been transferred by the Centre just days before the cyclone struck,바카라 says state BJP general secretary Golak Mohapatra. 바카라The CM was merely trying to score brownie points when he declined to ask for assistance.바카라
And Naveen did win the brownie points, also on his government바카라s handling of the cyclone. 바카라Patnaik has provided the political commitment necessary to build a robust and well-resourced disaster management authority,바카라 said head of the UN office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Mami Mizutori. But, while the government claims to have evacuated about six lakh people in the run-up to the cyclone, a Congress leader asks how so many people were still living in kuchha houses바카라that too in a small area affected by the cyclone바카라when the government claims to have provided pucca houses to more than 90 per cent of the homeless.
Naveen바카라s uncanny ability to foretell what would bring laurels and enhance his national profile is not of recent origin. It has been on display, especially since his fourth term. In the run-up to the 2019 general elections, the BJD supremo served an ace when he announced reservation of 33 per cent of party tickets for the Lok Sabha for women. Despite not extending the gesture to the assembly polls that were held simultaneously, it bolstered his image as a leader who bats for women바카라s empowerment and brought the overwhelming majority of women바카라s votes. A year earlier, he had created a national buzz by proposing that the word 바카라ahimsa바카라 be inserted in the Preamble of the Constitution. So, what exactly gives Naveen this Teflon-like quality where no dirt sticks? Veteran political commentator Rabi Das believes it has to do with his steadfast refusal to talk바카라and act바카라like the average politician. 바카라He never uses foul language against his rivals. In fact, he has made it a point not to join issue with any Opposition leader even when he is attacked personally. Instead, he lets his chosen lieutenants return the barbs, while he stays high above all this,바카라 says Das. It is indeed Naveen바카라s refusal to speak out of turn or use the standard vocabulary of an Indian politician that has endeared him to people outside the most. The outsider sees him as a gentleman who strayed into politics and yet managed to do the seemingly unthinkable by remaining a 바카라gentleman바카라 more than two decades after taking the plunge. Naveen바카라s decision never to speak in public without a scripted text, pilloried by his critics as a sign of a leader unsure of himself, has actually proved to be his USP, positioning him above the rest.
With his unique positioning, something Odisha had never seen before, Naveen has quietly demolished Odisha바카라s political class바카라or, at least, made it irrelevant바카라in the two decades he has been in power. He has managed this by talking to people directly from every possible forum바카라billboards, cut-outs, TV, newspapers, phone, social media and so on바카라without actually talking to anyone in person. He has also used his status as an unmarried person to telling effect in positioning himself as the head of the 바카라family of 4.5 crore Odias바카라. For all the talk of succession, he has refused to name or groom a successor and this has further endeared him to people.
Another trait that has stood Naveen in good stead is his refusal to be part of any grouping at the national level for electoral purposes or otherwise. He has always believed in ploughing a lonely furrow and never sought to play a more active national role. Whenever he has been asked why, his stock reply has been: 바카라I am happy serving my 4.5 crore Odia brothers and sisters.바카라 He could well be making a virtue out of a necessity in doing so. He has not worked his way through the ranks to emerge as a leader nor ever sat in the Opposition benches, so he knows he is not cut out for the 바카라dog eat dog바카라 brand of politics any 바카라national바카라 leader needs to engage in. His 바카라4.5 crore Odia brothers and sisters바카라 couldn바카라t care less and see him as someone they can trust to be by their side when they need him. Naveen바카라s handling of the media has also played a major role in building a halo around him. 바카라I must admit that he manages the media really well바카라gross mismanagement at the Covid centre in Bankishol never makes to the national media, though Aaj Tak comes calling when a woman in Jagatsinghpur drives a bullet and presents it as a case of women바카라s empowerment under Naveen,바카라 says BJP leader Mohapatra.
Falling human development indices, monumental scams and deteriorating law and order바카라Opposition leaders say these are Naveen바카라s 바카라achievements바카라. But it remains a lasting riddle for political pundits to decode how Naveen remains unaffected by all these. If anything, his stock has only risen.
By Sandeep Sahu in Bhubaneswar