Samikhsya Bureau
When the entire nation is busy with the aftermaths of the CAA, one doesn’t know if an opinion- making on the relationship between chief minister Naveen Patnaik and his erstwhile colleagues, now bête noire, like Damodar Rout or few others may not be political relevant.
But it becomes all the more relevant if seen through a prism of the politics of the day i.e CAA, NRC & NPR soon going to loom large over the entire political spectrum.
While many of Naveen’s detractors have slowly reduced to become morose onlookers, people like Damodar Rout has been trying to manifest his concern towards Naveen Patnaik in a very mixed yet uncertain notes.
The man who had mouthed the most sour & bitter acerbic for Naveen, has suddenly shown signs of playing footsie this time heaping tonnes of praises for the former’s acumen over burning issues like CAA & NRC.
Taking to his editorial piece in a newspaper run by him, Rout has said that, Naveen, in a way, knows the art of separating chaff from the paddy . Naveen Patnaik has deftly accepted the morals of CAA but threshed the spikes of NRC through a capital No to the latter. Although Patnaik knows that CAA when clubbed with NRC it can lead to confound the confusions only.
Rout has gone to the extent of saying that, Naveen Patnaik has demonstrated a remarkable political maturity in handling the dicey divide between CAA & NRC which he had somehow failed to notice in his years long association with Patnaik.
Rout’s home-coming to BJD
One would not miss the bottom reality that, Rout’s separation from the BJD or Naveen Patnaik, was not a clinical one because, before jumping the knots he had left his footprint in the BJD by locating his son in the party. A smart operation that a clever politician like Rout could envisage.
Rout knows that he can never wean Patnaik off the line the latter has chosen by sacking Rout , but at a time when a leader of his seniority passing through the twilight of his career, a semblance of goodwill of Naveen can offer some political stimulus .
Nothing is impossible in politics and for Naveen it may not be difficult to grant some solace to Rout by seeing him back in the BJD like it happened in the case of Prafulla Ghadai once branded to be a minion in the late Pyari Mohan Mohapatra camp.
And, that was a time when Rout had stood by Naveen like a rock pillar.
