How Naveen Patnaik did a balancing act on Parliament inaugural

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, known for his balancing acts with the BJP-led Centre, caused a surprise when he skipped the NITI Aayog meeting in New Delhi on May 27 and also the inauguration of the new Parliament by Prime Minister Narendra Modi the following day. Patnaik, however, sent party MPs to the inauguration ceremony, thereby signalling that his absence was not to be linked with several Opposition parties’ boycott of the event.

This is not the first time Patnaik has acted in a way to protect the interests of Odisha and its people. In his over two decades of being in power in Odisha, Patnaik has always tried to maintain cordial relations with the party ruling at the Centre irrespective of rivalry at the state level. So, whenever there has been talk of a broad Opposition platform, Patnaik and his Biju Janata Dal (BJD) have been counted out. Despite his high credibility, Patnaik never pitched himself for the national political scene. He is happy to be devoted to Odisha and discounted from Opposition manoeuvrings.

However, lately, Patnaik could not resist overtures from good friend and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who kept him in the loop regarding the Opposition’s game plan. Even Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee visited Patnaik and urged him to be a part of an eastern conglomerate, comprising Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. The four states together account for 117 Lok Sabha seats, including Odisha’s 21.

In the 2019 general election, the BJP won eight of the 21 seats in Odisha and the Congress one seat. Otherwise, Odisha has always been a clean sweep for Patnaik. So having a leader of his stature in the Opposition team is always desirable.

True to his nature, Patnaik patiently heard both Nitish and Mamata, without making any commitment and did what everyone saw: he chose to send a BJD delegation of 21 MPs from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the grand Parliament inaugural.

But if Patnaik does not want to rub the Centre the wrong way, he is being pragmatic. His state depends on the Union government for the National Disaster Response Fund to deal with calamities, especially cyclones, from time to time. And given his cordial equation with the Centre, there has been no delay or reduction in disbursal of the fund to Odisha. The Odisha government is going for some permanent measures, such as creating disaster-resilient power infrastructure, coastal protection and embankments, all of which would require central aid. The estimated cost is yet to be finalised but is expected to run into thousands of crores.

Patnaik also made sure his party was represented at the Parliament inaugural because he was not ready to be strongly identified as anti-BJP. The communique issued by the BJD read: ‘The President of India is the Head of the Indian State. The Parliament represents the 1.4 billion people of India. Both institutions are symbols of Indian democracy and draw their authority from the Constitution of India. Their authority and stature should always be safeguarded. The BJD believes that these Constitutional institutions should be above any issue which may affect their sanctity and honour. Such issues can always be debated later in the august house. Hence the BJD shall be a part of this momentous occasion.”

A pertinent question, therefore, would be why Patnaik choose to skip the NITI Aayog meeting. Analysts believe it could be an indirect message that he did not approve of president Droupadi Murmu, who hails from Odisha, not being invited to the inaugural ceremony, leave aside doing the inauguration herself instead of PM Modi. While it is being officially stated that Patnaik was busy with the fourth anniversary celebrations of his government’s current term, it is also true that the Odisha chief minister cannot be seen as one who was unconcerned by the row over Murmu not being part of the Parliament inauguration—an issue that has the potential to resonate in the upcoming election season.

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