Not long ago, he was the Âparty바카라s face in Delhi. For years, he represented the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in almÂost every discussion on national TV. But today, suspended MP Baijayant 바카라Jay바카라 Panda is persona non grata for the party he claims to have helped found. With the industrialist-turned-politician falling foul of party supremo and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, the wrath of both the party and the government has fallen on him like a ton of bricks바카라literally so last May, when he was assaulted with eggs, bricks and stones by BJD members at Mahanga, in his Lok Sabha constituency of KendrapÂara, while inaugurating a drinking Âwater project built with his MPLAD funds. Panda lost no time accÂusing 바카라an Âofficer on the third floor바카라 (the CM바카라s office) of orchestrating the attack. That바카라s when things came to a head, though tense undÂercurrents had been evident since the 2014 genÂeral elections.
Panda claims he has been on physiotherapy for 10 months now due to the shoulder injury he suffered in the Mahanga attack, and there hasn바카라t been a single occasion since when he could visit his constituency without facing protest by BJD workers. 바카라In these months, not once has the party chief called to ask how I am. And that hurts,바카라 says Panda. On January 24, the simmering tensions culminated in his suspension for 바카라anti-party바카라 activities.
There also appears to be a systematic attempt by the state government to chisel away at every entity that has anything to do with him. First, the Odisha State Pollution Control Board stopped mining operations at the Sukinda chrome ore mines owned by Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys (IMFA), the group run by his family, on the rather specious ground that it did not adeÂquately water the roads used for transport of ores. More recently, protesters who were neither workers nor locals laid siege to the IMFA plant at Therubali in Koraput district for 18 days, while the administration all but washed its hands off.
The pincer attack by the ruling party and the government, however, has been most visible in the case of OTV, the No. 1 Odia news channel, run by Panda바카라s wife, Jagi Mangat. On March 21, the BJD took the unprecedented step of formally announcing a decision to boycott all panel discussions on the popular channel, for what it called its 바카라biased coverage바카라. Then, in April, three reporters of the channel were summoned and grilled by officers of the Crime Branch for three hours to find out the source of a damning forensic report related to the gang-rape of a Dalit girl in Koraput, allegedly by security forces deployed there for anti-Maoist operations. The girl had committed suicide some months after the rape, alleging denial of justice and harassment for demanding it. The forensic report had caused much embarrassment to the state government.
Rubbishing the charge of biased coverage, Jagi says OTV has scrupulously stuck to its charter of neutrality. 바카라Even after the boycott, we have continued to show the government바카라s point of view. But they can바카라t stop us from showing news that doesn바카라t suit the BJD,바카라 she tells Outlook.
For the record, the BJD has said Panda started working against the party바카라s interests after Naveen refÂused to recommend his name to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on finance바카라a charge the Kendrapara MP dismisses as 바카라utter hogwash바카라. 바카라His hobnobbing with BJP leaders is public knowledge,바카라 says Rajya Sabha MP and BJD spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb. 바카라Why does (BJP leader and Union minister) Dharmendra Pradhan jump in to plead IMFA바카라s case in the standoff at its Therubali plant when he has never bothered about unrest in other industries? Doesn바카라t it make things all too obvious?바카라
However, most people, including Panda, believe it is his constant tirÂade against Naveen바카라s all-powerful private secretary V.K. Pandian that has led to his current problems with the party leader. 바카라Unlike his father, Naveen is highly vindictive, and obviously believes an attack on Pandian is an attack on him,바카라 says veteran political commentator Rabi Das. 바카라That바카라s why he has given him a virtual free hand to go after Jay Panda with a vengeance. I have reasons to believe the worst is yet to come.바카라
As things stand today, the chances of a rapprochement between Panda and Naveen appear to be extremely remote. Panda, too, believes too much water has flown down the Mahanadi for that. Asked if he would, as is widely believed, join the BJP, he says, 바카라Frankly, I haven바카라t decided about my future. I am seeking guidance from Lord Jagannath.바카라
By Sandeep Sahu in Bhubaneswar
