By D.N. Singh
After the hustle-bustle of election results now is the time for the guessing game. With eyes closed the winners among the Biju Janata Dal are lying in wait with eyes closed if the party supremo’s cursor comes to click on their fate.
In this fresh festival of power distribution on May 29, one can make an easy assessment that a good number of women winners may make into the council of ministers of Naveen Patnaik. There are twelve women MLAs at the bench and most likely three to four of them are likely to get berths in the council.
This time the council of ministers may have surprising inclusions and more surprising re-entries of members who had fallen from grace on various charges.
0n that note Naveen Patnaik’s primary pledge must aim towards a harmonious kick off, so that many eyebrows are not raised at his political prudence and authority.
There comes the question of the relevance of such leaders who had been de-boarded from the council of ministers for reasons of alleged unlawful alliance with wrong doers like Ponzi and other such charges.
With an absolute majority on his side Naveen Patnaik, who had successfully cruised through several dissentions and rebellion within before the polls, is unlikely to be outsmarted by any petty politicking in his selection of MLAs to be inducted.
Because, Patnaiik knows that he has to reboot the enticing welfare schemes towards real delivery for commitment of ministers would remain paramount.
There are chatters in the BJD grapevine that the leadership has to set the yardsticks that may surprise many not merely by new inclusions but reposing faith on erstwhile ministers like Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, MLA from Mahkalapada who was once fired from his earlier ministry for reasons that is history already.
Nimapada MLA, Sameer Dash, who had stormed through the traditional left bastion can be new entrant this time. Or Narla MLA, Bhupinder Singh, is within many other probable including the Junagarh lawmaker Divya Shankar Mishra.
Pratap Keshari Deb, who is not interested to bet on his chance, may make a re-entry into the council of ministers. Deb had, in fact, done fairly well as party spokesman and trusted lieutenant of the chief minister, than as a member of Rajya Sabha.
When Patnaik was facing the turmoil of rebellion by some leaders, now licking their wounds in the saffron camp , Deb had demonstrated the guts to stand by his leader.
Narla MLA, Bhupinder Singh, Rohit Pujari from Rairakhol and a few new faces like Rajashree Mallik and Latika Pradhan may be inducted in the new council.
Similarly the names like Arun Sahoo, MLA Nayagarh, is on the blink between to be or not to be. An accomplished survivor through many political odds, Sahoo’s supporters believe that he make his way once again into the ministry.
Sources in the party give to believe that, some former ministers from the council might be dropped to make room for fresh ones and which may raise the palpitation among the seniors.
Who are those going to be axed and who are those going to be ushered in to the council is a question that only the chief minister can answer on that day.
