Samikhsya Bureau
It was interesting to watch leaders changing parties in the election season or shift in ideology in matter of seconds. But the Biju Janata Dal supremo Naveen Patnaik’s sudden change of heart on his decade long policy of equidistant from the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party has surely lent some fodder for the political analysts.
Fairly recently while being interviewed by a national English channel Patnaik had told that his party’s policy of equidistance from the Congress and BJD remained intact. That, in fact, had hit the national headlines post his party’s disenchantment with the saffron party over what had happened in Kandhamal, where a communal conflagration threatened to tear apart the secular fabric of Odisha in 2008.
Patnaik’s stance kept him in an enviable position from then. Even in 2014 when Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance had stormed into the nooks and corners, Patnaik did not budge a bit. It paid the dividends in the general elections when the BJD on its own not only won 117 Assembly and 20 Lok Sabha seats but reduced the BJP to a state of humiliation in both the aspects.
Surprisingly, barely hours back Patnaik in another chat with a national Hindi channel was seen dithering from his earlier stance. Asked if he will support the NDA in Parliament if it comes to power, Patnaik in a quixotic turn in his ideology said that whoever comes to power, “if it serves the interest and welfare of Odisha, he will support”. This has raised eyebrows.
That was a thrill abandoned by Patnaik. Analysts read into it in two ways. Either he foresees some bad omen in his own palm or the state of animated suspense looming over the NDA , he has planned his defence in advance to ward off any last moment embarrassment or fear of ideological conflict.
