The Hindu : Naveen wins latest round in BJD row

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 17, 2002

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Other States - Orissa

Naveen wins latest round in BJD row

By Prafulla Das

BHUBANESWAR NOV. 16. The push finally came to a shove as the beleaguered Orissa Chief Minister and president of the Biju Janata Dal, Naveen Patnaik, cracked the whip and expelled three MPs from the party for six years here today. And left for New Delhi soon after. The expulsion followed intense speculation and animated closed-door meetings Mr. Patnaik had with his aides over the last few days.

The three MPs — Jagannath Mullick, Pravat Samantaray and Kumidini Patnaik — were suspended from the party three months ago. But since their suspension, they had become shriller in their criticism of Mr. Patnaik. Apart from joining hands with three other party MPs to elect their own leader in the Lok Sabha by replacing the party president's nominee, they spearheaded an ``oust-Naveen'' campaign in the State. Mortified to find the 10-member BJD Parliamentary party slipping into the hands of his detractors, Mr. Patnaik had to act. Of the remaining seven party MPs, three are rebels while four are known Patnaik loyalists.

Prasanna Acharya, Sambalpur MP who was elected the party leader in the Lok Sabha by the rebels, now loses majority in the seven-member BJD group.

It means that Arjun Sethi, who was unseated by the rebels, would stake claim before the Lok Sabha Speaker for being the rightful leader of the party in the Lower House.

But more is evidently at stake in the ongoing power game. With the rebels being supported by the former Union Minister, Dilip Ray, and the Orissa Gana Parishad president, Bijoy Mahapatra, making a spirited bid to unseat Mr. Patnaik by weaning away MPs and MLAs to the rebel camp, the standoff between the two sides is sure to escalate. The rebels have been trying hard in recent weeks to engineer a split within the BJD legislature party in the State Assembly.

The expulsion has triggered predictable responses. "The three MPs have reaped what they had sowed. They had to be thrown out for having worked against the interests of the party,'' said Damodar Rout, secretary-general of the BJD and a Patnaik loyalist.

On the contrary, the rebels have struck a defiant note. "This is an unfortunate step and will ultimately cost heavily,'' said Jagannath Mallick. Others have come down heavily on Mr. Patnaik for being "autocratic" and undemocratic. "The MLAs as also the people of Orissa have had enough of Mr. Patnaik and he would lose his Chief Ministership soon,'' claimed Mr. Mahapatra.

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Naveen wins latest round in BJD row