VK Pandian, a 2000 batch Indian Administrative Service officer who was Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s private secretary until recently, must feel like a celebrity. Just take a look at who all have attacked him this poll season—Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, to name a few.
For someone who quit the IAS to join politics six months back—that, too, in his karmabhoomi and sasural (workplace and marital home), Odisha, not in his janmabhoomi, birthplace, Tamil Nadu—such attention from the top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership is rare. So much so that it has made Odia ‘asmita’ or self-respect its central plank in the ongoing Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state.
Addressing a rally in Odisha last Monday, Modi said that a handful of ‘corrupt persons’ have taken control of Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik’s office and residence. The missing key of Puri Jagannath temple’s Ratna Bhandar or treasure trove has gone to Tamil Nadu, he claimed asking, “Who sent it to Tamil Nadu?”
The Prime Minister’s attack on Pandian drew a sharp response from Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin who said that Modi was trying to portray Tamils as “robbers”.
Two days later, Assam CM Sarma continued Modi’s line of attack, and said that CM Patnaik was “in a hostage situation” and “no one knows if the Odisha CM is fine or not”.
Amit Shah piled on, “Naveen babu is unwell. He doesn’t run his government. A Tamil babu runs it.” Former Odisha BJP chief Samir Mohanty wrote to the director general of police, alleging that Pandian and other non-Odia officers had captured Patnaik.
The CM has denied all such allegations. There is a limit to the amount of lies BJP can tell. As you can see, I am in very good health,” he told the media.
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A complete U-turn
What is it about Pandian that riles the opposition in Odisha? Why is it that the BJP is making his Tamil origin and Odia ‘asmita’ the main poll plank in a state where one CM has been ruling for uninterrupted 24 years? When was the last time India saw a top-rung leader like Amit Shah making someone’s health a poll issue? He asked Patnaik to retire due to “advanced age and health issues”. The Odisha CM is 77.
Shah’s remark about Patnaik has raised a lot of curiosity and eyebrows in the BJP circles, for sure. Coming to the party’s tactic in Odisha, on the face of it, there are some obvious explanations. When it comes to personal image and popularity, Naveen Patnaik is as unassailable in Odisha as—or probably more than—PM Modi nationally.
In February, Modi called Patnaik ‘my friend’. In March, the PM called him ‘a popular CM’. In April, the BJP and the Biju Janata Dal were holding talks for an electoral tie-up. Therefore, to turn around in May and attack Naveen Patnaik is a bit awkward and hypocritical. Not that the BJP is a stranger to this approach. Remember the last Meghalaya Assembly election? The BJP was part of the Conrad Sangma-led government all through. As it decided to contest the election alone, Modi-Shah went ballistic, terming the government—of which the BJP was a part—as corrupt and accusing Sangma of playing family politics. Once elections were over, the BJP joined the Sangma-led government again.
In Odisha’s case, BJP leaders apparently see Pandian as a softer target. As he told me: “I am happy about being whatever shield I can be for the honourable CM. I think I am doing my job that way.” He would rather look at it positively: “In all physical body-based games like football, you have man-to-man marking. If the entire BJP has marked me, it’s good.”
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A wrench in BJP’s plans
There is a larger story behind the BJP’s attack on Pandian, who will turn 50 in a couple of days. His emergence as Naveen Patnaik’s putative successor—no matter how vehemently Pandian denies it—can put paid to the BJP’s plans in Odisha.
Ahead of the 2019 polls, the BJP had emerged as the BJD’s principal challenger. Yet, after Patnaik held his fort in the poll battle, the BJP suddenly gave up its aggression, choosing to befriend the CM who reciprocated with full cooperation in Parliament. Behind the shift in the BJP’s strategy was a simple calculation—that Patnaik’s advancing age and health would force him to hang up his boots soon, prompting an exodus from the BJD to the BJP. It would have been a bloodless coup. After all, it was Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pramod Mahajan who were instrumental in the formation of the BJD after Biju Patnaik’s death. That gave the BJP a big foothold in Odisha where the party has never had a CM.
Modi-Shah would, therefore, see a natural corollary in the BJD—its breakaway group—helping the BJP capture power for the first time in Odisha after Naveen Patnaik’s retirement. With the Congress virtually extinct in the state, a meltdown in the BJD post-Patnaik would make the BJP the ‘only party’ in Odisha —like it is in Gujarat—for a long time to come.
Pandian’s emergence threatens to spoil the BJP’s plan. If there is one man Patnaik would trust his life with, it’s Pandian, who has been his shadow since 2011. The ex-civil servant sees him as his “guru” and “biggest inspiration”.
Pandian’s day starts with a visit to Patnaik’s residence and every sentence of his election speeches begins or ends with Naveen babu. Many in the BJD sought to drive a wedge between them but to no avail.
What must make the BJP more upset is the fact that Pandian is able to strike a chord with the people who are happily embracing Odisha’s son-in-law, even though a section of ambitious BJD leaders may not exactly be thrilled. His wife, an Odia, is an Odisha cadre IAS officer.
I was witness to his popularity early this month. On a May afternoon, with the temperature soaring over 40 degrees, the otherwise sleepy town of Padampur, about 380 km north west of Bhubaneshwar, came to life. Unmindful of the scorching heat, hundreds of people lined up on the roads to catch a glimpse of the visitor. His helicopter landed amid loud cheers. Minutes later, as Pandian reached the meeting venue, the crowds scrambled to shake hands and take selfies with him. As he addressed them in fluent Odia, he was greeted with regular claps and slogans. I made my way into the crowd. They identified Pandian as “Naveen babu’s man, 5 T waale (transformational Initiatives spearheaded by him)” and credited this concept with all development works around them.
“But the BJP says he is an outsider, a non-Odiya!” I asked. “Who is an outsider? Is Modi an outsider in Varanasi? Pandian is Naveen babu’s man who he trusts. Who is an outsider in India?” said a young man, with others looking approvingly.
“Would you be ok if Naveen babu makes him the CM after he himself retires from politics?” I persisted. “Yes…if Naveen babu decides, what’s your problem?” responded another man from the crowd, almost losing patience.
My questions were apparently becoming a bit irritating, so I walked away. But this conversation gave an inkling of why Pandian is in the BJP’s crosshairs. As long as he was Patnaik’s man Friday, he was no threat. But now that the people are looking inclined to accept and embrace Patnaik’s speculated choice of Pandian as successor—as those scrambles for selfies and handshakes indicated—Modi and Shah certainly have many reasons to be upset with the ex-civil servant.
DK Singh is Political Editor at ThePrint. He tweets @dksingh73. Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)