Oppn keeps chief minister on toes

Bhubaneswar: The Naveen Patnaik-government completes two years of his fourth consecutive term as chief minister on Saturday. Though Naveen has largely managed to keep his 'clean' image intact, it is probably for the first time the opposition political parties have managed to put him, and his party, in a spot on several issues on a continual basis. The situation is unlike his past terms.
"It was largely seen as a panic reaction by Naveen when he rushed to the Jagannath Temple in Puri earlier this week after oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan reviewed the Jagamohan cracks issue in New Delhi and a Congress delegation visited the 12th century shrine. The temple being an emotive issue for people in Odisha, Naveen doesn't want to be seen as lagging behind other political forces in attempts to conserve the Jagamohan," a BJD insider said.
Naveen's public statement asking opposition to self-introspect just after the recently concluded budget session was also seen as BJDs nervousness after the opposition managed to foist a complete washout of the second phase of the session by cornering the government over the chit fund scam. "Though Naveen not taking part in assembly debates and opposition creating mayhem is not uncommon, the way Naveen avoided facing the assembly this time and went to the public to explain the house logjam exposed the jittery ruling dispensation," said leader of opposition Narasingha Mishra.
"This government fears to face the opposition despite its brute majority because it feels guilty. After more than 16 years in power, the government failed to address basic issues of drinking water, doctors in hospitals and teachers in schools," said Narasingha. BJP state president Basanta Panda echoed similar views.
Bhartruhari Mahtab, BJD parliamentary party leader in Lok Sabha, however, feels the Naveen government is completely on the right track and is moving up on the popularity chart. Though the opposition is trying to exploit the chit fund scam, the Naveen government's new law on chit fund - Odisha Protection of Interest of Depositors Act - was appreciated by the central government and people of the state, he said.