Pyari Mohan Mohapatra

Rajya Sabha Member

Bhubaneswar

posted on : 6/10/2010 4:21:34 PM

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The chief strategist of ruling party BJD and Rajya Sabha member Pyari Mohan Mohapatra spilled the beans on the upcoming Rajya Sabha election in an exclusive interview with OTV. Our Chief Editor Soumyajit Patnaik spoke to the bureaucrat-turned politician. Excerpts:

Soumyajit: For the upcoming Rajya Sabha election, three BJD candidates have filed their nominations and a Congress-backed candidate, Tara Ranjan Patnaik, has also submitted his nomination papers. While the ruling party BJD is having 29 members to vote in favor of third seat, do you think BJD will achieve the required magic number 37 to win the third RS seat?

Pyarimohan: Why do you think BJD has support of 29 MLAs for the third seat? We have two independent MLAs who have fought election on BJD support. They are Rajendra Kumar Sahu of Khurda Constituency and Athagarh MLA Ramesh Rout. We have support of four NCP members and the lone CPI legislator in the state assembly. We are falling short of just 1 vote. The opposition Congress doesn’t have the required number. As BJP has decided to abstain from voting, Congress is not going to attain the required numbers. Even if the independents support Congress, the party will be having support of 30 MLAs. With the support of 30 MLAs, do u think opposition can put up a fight?

Soumyajit: If Congress issues whip to its members to support independent candidate Tara Ranjan Patnaik, do you think it will be a nail-biting finish? 

BJP had decided to abstain from voting in the RS polls. But as some of the BJP leaders are interested to vote in favor of Tara Patnaik and the state leadership has conveyed this to the central leadership. What would be the scenario in that case?
 
Pyarimohan: It is a well known fact that, Tara Patnaik had close acquaintance with former chief minister J B Patnaik. Obviously, Congress will issue whip to support the independent candidate. He might not be a member of Congress party but he had political affiliation with the party. The BJP central leadership had decided not to support Congress-backed candidate. Do you think the members will go against the party’s instructions?

If BJP issues whip to support independent candidate then also we will emerge victorious.

Soumyajit: During election time, horse trading is a buzz word. Do you think this sort of incident will happen?

Pyarimohan: Ten years down the line BJD as a party has never involved itself in horse-trading. It is against the party ethics. If any independent candidate is willing to vote in favour of BJD or has faith in Naveen Patnaik government, then we won’t hesitate to avail the opportunity. Why do you think that independent candidates involve in horse trading? The independent candidates do have political ambitions. Do you think they would vote in favor of industrialist Tara Patnaik rather than voting in favor of BJD-backed candidate?

 Soumyajit: As you are a part of ruling party, the opposition Congress has alleged that you would acquire the required numbers with ‘use’ or ‘misuse’ of power in other words horse trading.

Pyarimohan: Since independence, the only Chief Minister who has never misused his power is Naveen Pattnaik. Even the state investigative machinery or police have been set free to function freely since Naveen Patnaik came to power. Everyone is free to exercise his freedom. As in the case of mine owner Jitu Pattnaik, he has openly announced to extend his support to Tara Pattnaik.

Soumyajit: There was some sort of resentment within the party over the candidature of Sri Baishnab Parida who left Samajwadi Party and joined BJD just two years back whereas senior party members like Narendra Swain and Jogeshwar have been serving the party since long but are denied tickets for the upcoming RS polls. Is there any yardstick for nomination of any candidate?

Pyarimohan: While deciding on candidature, party leadership evaluates various aspects. This has nothing to do with how many years a member has served in the party. As Naveen Patnaik has finalized the list of candidates, he has definitely looked into various aspects keeping in view the welfare of party and state.

Soumyajit: What was the criterion while nominating Baihnab Parida?

Pyarimohan: There isn’t a single factor. There are various yardsticks taken into consideration while selecting a candidate.
 
Soumyajit: As a Member of the Parliament, you are going to start second innings in Parliament. How do you see your role with the change in government at the centre?
 
Pyarimohan: During my first tenure as RS MP, we were with NDA. In the second term, the only difference is that we will be raising the concerns of the state in the parliament as an independent party. We are neither with NDA nor with UPA.
 
Soumyajit: What would be our primary demands in the upper house?

Pyarimohan: The foremost demand which we have been demanding since the inception of the party would be disbursing grants to the state under special category state status. In this, the centre provides 90 per cent fund as grant and remaining 10 per cent as loan. At present, the centre is providing 70 per cent funds as loans and rest 30 per cent as grant. As a result of this, the loan burden on the state is appreciating. 

Secondly, we would press for value-added royalty. At present, the centre is allowing 10 per cent royalty to the state on mineral exports since August this year. As per our demands, if the centre would have given 30 per cent royalty, the state would have earned about 70,000 crores from 1904 to 1909. If the centre would have introduced this earlier, then the loan burden on the state would have reduced. We would highlight the central apathy towards the state. The centre has neglected the state in railway network, irrigation, and disbursing funds under the natural calamities relief fund among others.

Soumyajit: The course of industrialization in the state hasn’t taken a big leap. Mega projects like Tata Steel project at Kalinga Nagar and Posco hasn’t gained much momentum. Would you assure that mega projects would be completed before the end of Naveen Patnaik’s tenure?

Pyarimohan: Presently, Bhusan Steel at Angul has attained 3 mtpa production capacities and has aimed to achieve 6 mtpa productions. Bhusan is a bigger project than Tata Steel. As far as Posco is concerned, the major roadblock is land acquisition. We have prepared the best R&R policy and we want to go ahead with affected people by providing sustainable package to them. As the dialogue with the anti-project activists are failing, we want to resolve the issue through meaningful dialogue. We are trying our best to resolve the issues through dialogues and we would go for industrialization with the consent of the people.

Soumyajit: It is alleged that the industries are not generating enough employment for the local youth. What is your take on that?

Pyarimohan: In the 2004 election manifesto, we had promised to provide employment opportunities to around 10 to 12 lakh youth in the state through employment mission in small enterprises. As per reports, around 10 lakh youth have been employed through self-employment schemes in small scale enterprises by 2009. There would be employment opportunities in ancillary, small and medium-scale industries.

In agriculture sector, the BJD government has formulated numerous policies. Unlike other states, the youth in our state are apprehensive about venturing into this field. In a bid to encourage the youth, we are taking steps to bring agri-revolution in the state.