Rourkela: Even though the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is taking all steps to curb indiscipline within the party in Sundargarh district, it has not been able to do so. In the very recent past, the BJD has suspended two prominent functionaries in Sundargarh district. They are state secretary of the Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD) Prakash Paswan and former Biju Chhatra Janata Dal state general secretary, Rabindra Pradhan. Both have been blamed for anti-party activities. However, despite such stringent steps, the BJD has failed to control tribal leader Mangala Kisan who continues to embarrass the party. Paswan is well-known for his antiSarada Nayak stance and in the past he has opposed the Labour Minister on many occasions. Political observers here however, feel that the only way Paswan could be in the limelight was by opposing Nayak. Now however, that chance has gone and for opposing Nayak continuously, Paswan has been dumped by the party, they added.
However, the case of Pradhan is quite different from that of Paswan. “It was Nayak who brought Pradhan into active politics. Pradhan has been a long-time supporter of Nayak. So his suspension surprised many. Maybe some of Pradhan’s recent activities must have irked the minister leading to the former’s suspension,” a source in the BJD said. “Pradhan for the last couple of months had been criticising Bhai (Nayak) on various social media platforms. Besides, he contested as a ‘rebel’ candidate against the official party nominee Akshaya Rout in the election for the State Cooperative Board. These issues did not go down well with Nayak and it must have led to Pradhan’s suspension,” the source added. Efforts are on to resurrect Pradhan, but the winds are not favourable for him.
However, he has got support from an unexpected quarter – Kisan who is also a former minister. Kisan has been talking to various media channels on a regular basis criticising both Nayak and veteran leader Prafulla Ghadei. In fact, Kisan has also blamed Nayak for his defeat in the last Assembly elections. He has also said that Nayak is ‘destroying’ the BJD in Sundargarh district. However, the BJD cadres here are unwilling to give importance to Kisan’s outbursts. “We do not take Mangala babu’s comments seriously. To win an election, one needs to have a proper organisation. Sadly Mangala babu doesn’t have any organisational capability,” opined one of the close aides of Nayak.
