This is Naveen Experiment, not Third Front meeting: NCP
By Ratikant Mohanty
Bhubaneswar, April 8: The Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday sought to put at rest all speculations about the possibility of the party joining the Third Front. It clarified that its poll understanding in Orissa was state-specific only.

“I would like to say that this is not the not the meeting of the Third Front but this is an Orissa specific electoral understanding under the BJD president Naveen Patnaik where the BJD, NCP, CPI and CPI (M) are contesting the elections together,” the NCP general secretary D.P. Tripathy announced in presence of his party president Sharad Pawar, CPI (M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury, BJD president and Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik and CPI leader Abani Boral at a joint press conference here.

Mr Tripathy said the Orissa- specific alliance had been named as Naveen Experiment.“We have charaterchised this Orissa-specific exercise as Naveen Experiment and this is going to have its repercussions in national politics,” Mr Tripathy said.

The CPI (M) leader Mr Yechury said the Orissa Experiment was conceptualised to give the state a secular government under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik. “All the parties you see here together are determined to offer Orissa a secular alternative. We would like to see Naveen Patnaik continue as the chief minister. As you are aware, in many states people are coming together to form a secular front,” Mr Yechury said.

The leaders, both Mr Pawar and Mr Yechury, refused to take questions beyond Orissa affairs. The preferred to avoid questions on why the Left and NCP failed to forge alliance at the Centre and what the constraint of the latter to join the Third Front. The NCP president Sharad Pawar said he was in touch with Naveen since Kandhamal clashes took place in August, 2008 and ever since he made up his mind to cooperate Naveen to fight against the fundamental forces.

“We were discussing with Naveen since long, particularly after my visit to Kandhamal last year. I realised that some fundamental forces were creating disturbances there which Naveen wanted to keep at bay,” Mr Pawar said, adding, the NCP’s decision to have a pre-poll understanding with the BJD was a “conscious” one. CPI leader D. Raja could not attend the joint press conference as he could not get his flight to Bhubaneswar, informed the BJD chief.

The BJD chief said his party would focus on building a peace and prosperous state.

He clarified that his party would not support a Congress-led or Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre. “We will support only a non-Congress and non-BJP government at the Centre,” the CM said, adding, his party would would get a comfortable majority in the coming assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

My government will return to power for third term: Naveen

By Prasanna Mohanty

Rourkela, April 7: Unperturbed over the “betrayer” tag given to him after he broke ties with the BJP last month, Orissa chief minister and the Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday claimed his party would register a comfortable win in the coming assembly and polls.

“You know we have done a lot of work for the poor. They will support us in the coming elections and my party will sail through the poll battle smoothly,” the chief minister said while addressing a public rally here.

Mr Patnaik criticised the UPA government saying it always meted out discriminate behaviour to Orissa.

“The UPA government has never treated Orissa sympathetically. Many projects in the state are pending for completion as the Centre does not release adequate funds for the purpose,” Mr Patnaik said.

The chief minister, who is single-handedly leading the campaign for his party vis a vis high profile canvassing by star campaigners of the Congress and his recently estranged partner BJP, is asking people to shower “blessings” on him to continue in his post for the third term.

“I just need your blessing to continue to serve the state. You have seen successive Congress governments in the past and I would appeal you compare them with my administration in the last nine years. All I need is your support to carry the state forward on the path of peace and progress,” the chief minister is seen repeating these lines from his written speech at each and every public meeting.

Meanwhile, the BJP Rajya Sabha member and actress Hema Malini - – who arrived here on a two-day poll mission - launched her campaign in Orissa on Tuesday.

Addressing a rally at Jatni near here, Ms Malini said a few “so-called secular” parties were trying to destroy the cultural background of the country by distorting the concept of Hindutva.

“Hindutva is not a religion. It is above any religion of faith. It is universal brotherhood and it preaches humanity. We have been living with this concept since ages. Unfortunately, a few political parties are trying to presenting it quite distortedly for vote bank politics knowing very well that this would lead to destruction of our cultural root,” she said.

Sharad to campaign in Orissa sans Left parties

Rahul, Hema to campaign for party candidates today
By Ratikant Mohanty

Bhubaneswar, April 6: Finally Sharad Pawar is coming to Orissa on Tuesday evening for poll campaign. But he will be not sharing dais with the Left parties at any of the rally venues.Apart from canvassing for his party candidates at three places - Barchana, and Begunia assembly constituencies and Balasore Lok Sabha seat, - Mr Pawar will seek votes for the Biju Janata Dal candidate in Bhandaripokhari assembly constituency.

“Mr Pawar is scheduled to address four public rallies along with the BJD president and chief minister Naveen Patnaik. There is no mention in his tour programme to campaign for the Left parties in the state,” party functionary Badrinaryan Mohanty told this paper on Monday.

The BJD, NCP and Left parties have formed a Mahamenta (Grand Alliance) in Orissa. However, surprisingly, the Maharashtra strongman stayed away from the coalition’s mass convention held on Friday last. 

Meanwhile, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Rahul Gandhi is also reaching here on Tuesday on a two-day visit to the state to campaign for his party. 

Mr Gandhi is scheduled to address a series of election meetings in coastal and western Orissa during his stay in Orissa. He will mainly focus on rural voters as his tour programme suggests.  

His visit will follow a whirlwind tour to the state by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Prime Minister is scheduled to address nearly half a dozen election meetings in a span of only two hours, Congress sources said. However, details of his programme are yet to be finalised.

Party’s star campaigner Sonia Gandhi visited the state last week to drum up support for the Congress. She toured western and southern Orissa where she addressed three public meetings on April 2.

Similarly, the BJP’s  star campaigner and erstwhile Bollywood dream girl Hema Malini is scheduled to visit Orissa on Tuesday to campaign for her party. Details of her tour programme are to be finalised later in the evening, party sources said.

Third Front convention fails to pull crowd|

By Akshaya Kumar Sahoo and Rabindra Nath Choudhury

Bhubaneswar, Apr 3: The Third Front show at Bhubaneswar on Friday failed to pull much crowd, even as the Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar skipped the convention as the plane in which he was scheduled to travel “developed technical snag.”Mr Pawar, who was under pressure from the Congress to stay away from the meet, however, addressed the rally organised on the occasion, over telephone from Mumbai. He spoke barely for two minutes before telephone connection was snapped. “I wanted to attend the meeting, but failed to reach Bhubaneswar due to technical snag in my plane. I will be visiting Orissa on April 8 for joint poll campaign with Biju Janata Dal”, he said. His absence from the meeting appeared to have dampened the spirit of the Third Front leaders, who, nonetheless, tried to downplay the issue, saying media “should not speculate too much on this.” Not even one-tenth of the Lower PMG Square, where the convention was held, was filled in by the crowd.

The NCP national general secretary D.P.Tripathy represented his party in the rally and said, “It is a historic day as BJD formally joined the Third Front.” Besides the NCP, Biju Janata Dal, CPI, CPI (M) and Forward Block joined the rally. The meeting was poorly attended even as the BJD formally kicked up its poll campaign for the coming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, to be held simultaneously on April 16 and 23, on the occasion.

Addressing the meeting, CPI general secretary A.B.Bardhan said the third alternative was becoming a reality.He said UPA was being weakened following desertion of its allies one after another. Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s SP and Mr Ram Vilas Pawan’s LJP have almost withdrawn from the UPA as they have no pre-poll alliance with the Congress, he said.

Lashing out at the UPA government, he said the Centre’s faulty economic policies have led to sky rocketing of prices of essential commodities and loss of nearly 20 lakh jobs in the last one year. CPM secretary Prakash Karat said the Centre’s economic policies have led to financial crisis in the country. The UPA government has benefited the rich and capitalists only, neglecting the poor. He said a non-Congress and non-BJP force at the helm at the Centre would only work for the common people.

Presiding over the meeting, Orissa chief minister and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik attacked the BJP saying the saffron party was trying to disturb social harmony in the state. He also criticized the UPA government for neglecting Orissa.

After the removal of J.B. Patnaik from the post of Congress Legislature Party leader and installation of K. P. Singhdeo as the new Pradesh Congress Committee president, there was euphoria among party workers that the moribund party would return to power. Their contention was that the new PCC president's personality and image was better than Naveen.

As it appears now, especially after the trust motion controversy on which the Congress is apparently silent, the party workers at the grassroots feel they have been let down by their state and Central leaders. The workers are directly demanding the President's rule.

The BJP on the other hand, seems have regained its lost spirit, if the mood of the party workers at March 16 rally here is any indication. Thousands of workers from across the state converged at the lower PMG square here and jostled for space on the one km long Mahatma Gandhi road to listen to their leaders. They responded lustily to each staccato from the leaders creating a tremor like environment at the venue. So much enthusiasm is rarely seen in them in the recent past. The only mantra that appeared to have possessed them now is to oust the chief minister Naveen Patnaik from power for breaking 11-year-old alliance between BJP and BJD. "It is a great betrayal", they shouted joining the voices of their leaders.

Every word from the firebrand leader Sushma Swaraj who launched party's campaign at the rally, was met with thunderous applause from the workers. Ms Swaraj was in her vitriolic best in lambasting the chief minister and BJD supremo Mr Patnaik for dumping her party without any reason. "We will teach the backstabber a lesson in the coming polls," she announced amidst ear splitting anti-Naveen slogans by the workers. "If Naveen can dash the hope of our leader L.K. Advani to become Prime Minister, we can also spoil his chances of retaining chief minister's post," says Rama Hari Lenka, a BJP worker present at the rally. "I have not seen such a responsive crowd in the last nine years. The same spirit in the workers was seen when Atal Behari Vajapyee became the prime minister", said a senior BJP leader. The party workers appeared to have been feeling uneasy living under the shadow of BJD during the 11-year-alliance. They seem to be liberated now. Similar sentiments are visible among the party workers across the state as they gear up themselves to "oust the treacherous Naveen" from power.

Risky road ahead for Naveen

On Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 9:02 PM, indus valley :By Prasanna Mohanty
Bhubaneswar: The election scenario in Orissa has become hazy with the split in the Biju Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party and many regional and national parties joining the fray. The BJD, born in the aftermath of the demise of the legendary Biju Patnaik, encashed the goodwill the veteran leader had created for himself to stand up as a stable regional party in Orissa. The party later entered into alliance with the BJP to consolidate non-congress votes which successfully kept the Congress away from power in the last two elections in Orissa.

The BJD chief Naveen Patnaik has come a long way from being a greenhorn in politics a decade ago to being master strategist. His maneuvers to size up his rivals have left even veteran politicians surprised. It seems Mr Patnaik has mastered the art of dumping his rivals in the dustbin when he perceived threat to his position. His poaching of potential political threats began from Bijoy Mohapatra, his betenoire, in 2000. His recent victim is the Bharatiya Janata Party. Naveen severed the 11-year-old tie with the party, thus risking his political future. The breakdown of alliance between the BJD and the BJP has completely changed the political equations. People are surprised at Naveen's decision. Many wonder if he took the decision himself or he was prompted or directed by somebody within the party-fold to take such a bold move. They also wonder if this move will pay or prove boomerang for the party.

There is no doubt that the coming elections are set to witness triangular contests among the main players - the BJD, the Congress and the BJP. The triangular contest will lead to division of non-Congress votes, benefiting, needless to say, to the Congress, political observers here say. This apart, other players in the elections such Samrudha Odisha, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party are likely to further divide the non-Congress votes. Hence it is like a win-win situation for Congress. Mr Patnaik is known to be always guided by his mentor and former bureaucrat Pyarimohan Mohapatra in all his tactics. Mr Mahapatra, who in the past had once declared that he had no interest in politics and he was guide to none, is the second power centre in the BJD. His rise in the party began in 2002 when he became the party's primary member. In 2004, he got into Rajya Sabha. Has Mr

Mohapatra prompted or guided Naveen to split with the BJP? If yes, - then why? These questions are being raised in political circles here. Naveen's supporters feel that had their leader carried the BJP with him, the elected BJP MLAs would have stood solidly behind him. Now that most of the sitting BJD legislators and as well as the ticket aspirants are Mr Mohapatra's supporters, it is unlikely Naveen will have an impregnable wall of support after the polls.

Results will say if Naveen has written his own political history or shaped future.