Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik vents against UPA and NDA; Beginning of a sustainable third front?
CENTER & ODISHA, Chief Minister's actions, Defence establishments, Demanding equitable treatment, Mine royalty and cess, Railway network in Odisha February 15th. 2012, 1:54pmThis is interesting. Naveen Patnaik has a strong election winning record in Odisha and based on the current ZP and Panchayat elections, it seems he will also win big in the next elections in Odisha. He is suave, gentle, has a good natinoal image, not prone to histironics (like Mamata Banerjee), not an ayaaram-gayaram (i.e., does not change alliances often like AIADMK and hence reliable), speaks good English, and Odisha being a smaller state other state leaders will not think he is too powerful. So he may be an acceptable PM candidate for a third front consisting mainly of various regional parties. He is right about the problems with the two national alliances in India. The big problem with UPA is its multiple power centers, especially with the all power no responsibility position of the Yuvraj. He and his cronies have single handedly stopped major development in Odisha; especially the Vedanta University. The other problem with national parties is that their leadership in Delhi control the states where they rule. As a result, while those states do get some extra benefits, they are manipulated by the center to agree to their wishes, even if it may be detrimental to the state’s interest. In the context of Odisha a UPA govt in Delhi can push a Congress govt. in Odisha to give mining leases to companies of its choice.
At present the Odisha government is able to defy them to some extent. Even in case of coal blocks where the center unilaterally allocates the blocks, the state is able to put its terms, sometimes vocally, as the companies need the help of the state in getting the land and various clearances. That is the reason MCL and NTPC have agreed to establish medical colleges in Odisha. If there was a Congress government they would not be as vocal and may have just signed on the dotted lines as dictated by the central leadership. Of course one has to also think of the country as a whole. But in the past what has happened is that in the name of "national interest" Odisha has suffered greatly, some of it partly overcome by the non-Congress leadership in Odisha.
Examples of this are:
- The freight equalization policy that harmed the industrialization of Odisha.
- The low royalty rates of minerals.
- Lack of port development. (There is folklore about how Biju Patnaik unilaterally went ahead to establish Paradeep port)
- Also related is the disregard of the military about accommodating port development near their sites.
- The opposition of Rahul Gandhi and his cohorts to industrial development in Kalahandi and Vedanta University.
- Lack of development of Railways in Odisha.
Some of the above were overcome when there was a third front type government at the center. The ECOR zone was one of them. Since the ECOR zone was established things have looked up in the Railways sector in Odisha, but there is lot more to be done.
In the mining and metal based industry sector, since the BJD government in Odisha has become very discriminative in giving leases and installed the value added policy there has been a beeline of investment (some of it yet to come to fruition). The government has seen through the past games of Tatas and now have forced them establish a plant in Odisha (hence their upcoming Kalinganagar plant) and yet have not given them any new leases. SAIL and NALCO are not having an easier time either.
So the point is that in our current set up where leadership in Delhi (true for both UPA and NDA) often dictates the state leaders of the same party to do what it wants, the state may lose out in the name of national interest. On the other hand *honest* regional parties can guard the state’s interests as has happened in Odisha. More and more states are going that way.
However, its not clear what kind of central government a coalition of regional parties will be able to form and how well will that work at the national level.
More ramblings later. … (See http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/5458 for related thoughts.)
February 15th, 2012 at 3:56 pm
If the UPA played a spoilsport in facilitating private investment in Odisha, will the situation be different if BJD joins hands with CPI and CPM who are hellbent on stopping all major investments with some of its leaders still in jail for POSCO. Similarly it is hypocritical on the part of BJD to call the NDA communal as it was a part of the alliance for 12 long years and was solidly behind BJP even in 2002 in the aftermath of Gujarat violence and never uttered a word against this episode. Infact Naveen attended the swearing in of Modi. BTW who was stopping the BJD to threaten or even topple NDA Govt for the interest of the state (like TDP or TMC) but it played the role of an obedient alliance partner. In NDA-I when Naveen was asked to choose a ministry of his choice he preferred the Steel Ministry as his father once held that portfolio. After the NDA saga saw an abrupt end, BJD also sided with NCP, an alliance partner of UPA. So practically BJD has sided with all alliances except Congress mainly because it is the principal opposition in the State. So, it has also pursued politics of convenience. And on corruption, Naidu, Jayalalitha and Mulayam Singh Yadav or Mayawati etc (the possible faces of a Third Front) are not the leaders who can inspire confidence. If there is any glue that will hold this alliance together it is the Prime Ministerial ambition of regional satraps and Naveen will do a great damage to his own image by joining hands with these opportunist Parties.
February 16th, 2012 at 12:38 am
I am sorry, but no matter how much we talk and vent about the NDA and the UPA and their issues, there is still no possibility of any third front govt coming up at the centre in the next general elections.
Even if both the BJP and the INC perform badly, they will still together hold 200 out of 543 seats. Which means for an 3rd front govt we will need almost all other smaller parties to even get to the majority mark.
Similarly, with so many small parties there will not anybody in control. It will be complete chaos at the center for each and every cabinet decision. At least with the INC/BJP leading a coalition you have one big party which still has a good number of seats to have some power.
The difference between the NDA and the UPA is that the UPA with its Congress leadership does not have a good handle on coalition politics. They also do not have a single big gun, like NDA had with Atalji. Even today, if somebody charismatic but liberal enough, would be at the head of the BJP, then NDA would have had a solid chance of winning.
As for Naveen and BJD, I am sorry, but I never want such a gutless guy at the head of Indian govt. If Naveen was a PM hopeful, I would not vote for him. I would much rather vote for a Modi. Because I believe Modi’s fallacies of being communal, the Indian society can overcome. But the society cannot compensate for having a gutless leader.
The main reason for Naveen’s success is that he is able to maintain a very clean image. And one other thing in his favour is that he doesnt really have much of a family. So many in the rural areas of Orissa, cant really digest the fact that he may be corrupt. Because there seems no reason for him to be making a lot of money, considering his lack of family.
This squeaky clean image, which is the only thing Naveen cares about, combined with the fact that the opposition has not been able to throw out a leader against him till now. If the Congress is able to pull out a Rahul Gandhi kind of leader, with no past baggage and a mass appeal who is ready to become the CM, the people of Orissa would probably bring Congress to power. Even in UP if Rahul said that he would be CM, Congress would rout everybody else in the election.
The country in my belief would really like a strong leadership. If Modi makes a concerted effort to not campaign on religious lines for the next two years, croon about secularism in every election speech all over the country for the next two years, and continue to keep Gujrat on a solid path of development for the next two years, I dont see why the BJP with him as the PM hopeful, cant win close to 220 seats in the next general election. In my view in terms of possible outcomes, this would be the best thing that can happen to India.
As for Odisha, unless we get a good leader out of the BJP/INC the only thing we can hope for is that the gutless Naveen Pattnaik comes out of his cosy shell and actually decides to use his political capital and do something for the state.
February 17th, 2012 at 5:47 am
I think Naveen Patnaik is out of his mind! Does he seriously consider Mamata and Jayalalitha as dependable allies? I have to agree wholeheartedly with the comments by @S Pani.
Even as an Odia I’d root for Modi any day. Modi has a successful record of achievements. He might lack the social graces and the polish of Naveen Patnaik, but the way he handles his state is amazing. There is really no comparison here. It’s slam dunk for Modi.
As for Odisha well we’ll have to wait for somebody to actually pose a real challenge to Naveen Patnaik. It isn’t going to be the Congress or the BJP. It might surprisingly have to be a set of disgruntled and clean gentlemen from the BJD itself!
February 17th, 2012 at 2:38 pm
in that case bjp will get majority vote in odissa
it will be a good option for bjd to support bjp in 2014 election
congress is good for nothing,they cant get a single vote by showing devlopment,congress can get vote only by dividing in religion and cast
vote 4 bjp/bjd
save india
February 21st, 2012 at 7:52 am
Until I did not leave my state I never knew that how poor we are doing.at outside nobody knew in which corner of country Odisha named state existed.They could not even differentiate what is state name, Odisha or Odia.Even after this sometimes I got happy knowing that They did not know how poor we were.And much to my fear some knew this fact and knew our state due to that infamous thing only.Now thing has changed a bit.I remember once my manager introduced me with our one of the suppliers, he just got elated saying “oh Naveen Patnaik, BJD”.Now there is a surge of Industrialization in Odisha. development is in Agriculture, health,education and so in standard of living.FDI in Odisha is more than any developed state in Odisha.This is what I do not say myself but I overhear people speaking around me and more I witness in print media as well as electronic media.If same way you knew Gujarat developed and you give all credit to Narendra Modi then why you hesitate to give a little credit even to your own CM.I do not have much knowledge on politics, I did not go deep into to unfold all deeds of Naven Patnaik to find out his inability.But now somehow I am happy that I can feel proud saying I am an Odia.Even Gujaratis recognize Naveen Patnaik efforts but here Odia do not do so as if they were such expert in these affairs all that if they were given power of CM, they would make odisha another Gujarat.Some did not think once even before tarnishing his image questioning on his gut and capability.A marathi, a Kannada or a Telugu would blindly support one of his political leaders if he is an aspirant for PM post overlooking his inability or even any criminal record if he has.They understand how much important it is, seeing their own man to such high position.Regional parties are good for states as they would not sacrifice state interest for the sake of national interest, what is happening in Karnataka now.Regionality is much more important than Nationality.If you blame thinking that I am not patriotic then Do you think whole nation was that they bother to care about agony, pain of poverty, malnutrition Odia suffered with for a decade without getting any aid from center.
February 21st, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Many people give a lot of credit to Narendra Modi for Gujarat’s development. A big part of the credit should go to the people of Gujarat.
Similarly, a lot of the failure in Odisha is due to the people of Odisha. For example, just imagine if they had not stopped Vedanta University from happening, …
It is shameful that many in Odisha invite communist and other leaders from other states while many other are busy badmouthing the few leaders of stature that we have.