Naveen Patnaik in the firing line: How he lost the media plot

Bhubaneswar: For 14 years, large sections of the local media were more than happy to eat out of Naveen Patnaik’s hands. They put up with the BJD supremo’s utter disdain for them – reflected in the fact that he has not addressed a single press conference or given a single interview to anybody from what he believes is the ‘mofussil’ press – without so much as a whimper. It was grateful for every byte read out from a prepared text that ‘The Supreme Leader’ deigned to give after making the TV crews wait for hours. It swallowed the humiliation when he even refused entertain a single question from them.

But suddenly, the media appears to have found its voice again. The front pages of Odia newspapers these days are full of stories scathingly critical of the government, the ruling party and its leading lights, something that was unthinkable even six months ago. Television reporters have unshackled themselves and are back to asking the tough questions of ministers and ruling party politicians. Things are much worse for the ruling party on the social media with people having whale of a time lambasting, ridiculing and caricaturing the leading lights of the party. The sharpest, wittiest and most vicious attacks are of course reserved for the Supreme Leader.

What has changed so drastically over the last four months since Naveen came back to power with a thumping majority?

Naveen has never been a voluble man. But even by his own reticent standards, he has gone surprisingly quiet these last few weeks. His public appearances have been few and far between. On the few occasions he has ventured out, his minders have made sure television cameras stay out of harm’s way and don’t get anywhere close to him. Of late, official announcements by the Chief Minister have been made by way of press releases from his office rather than in the form of personal appearances before the TV cameras. While Naveen the Chief Minister has at least made an occasional public appearance and delivered a rare statement, Naveen the BJD president has been conspicuous by his absence and deafening in his silence.

And this at a time when so much is happening in the party that would, in normal circumstances, demand his attention. The de facto Number 2 in the party, Rajya Sabha MP Kalpataru Das, has suddenly become persona non grata in the wake of damaging revelations about cynical acquisition of property by him and his family. Leader after senior leader is being hauled over the coals for their alleged involvement in some scam or the other. The CBI is zeroing in on some powerful leaders in the party, including ministers, in the chit fund scam. But the supremo has not uttered a word on any of it. Like ‘Maunmohan’ Singh, he has decided that silence is golden.

With the leader himself shying away from public glare, the fear of the television cameras has spread like a contagion down the line. On Monday, Revenue Minister Bijayshree Routray lost his cool and assaulted a reporter when persistent TV crews badgered him for a byte on a huge piece of land in Bhubaneswar he has acquired in gross violation of rules. The day after, former government chief whip Pravat Tripathy turned up at the CBI office in the capital city for interrogation in connection with his role in the chit fund scam with two dozen or so supporters, who looked and behaved more like bouncers in a late night bar, to ensure that the booms did not get close to their leader. But the dogged TV crews tailed him as he came out after a marathon, six-hour long grilling and hastily made his way to his car. He fell down, but still did not oblige them with a byte.

It is this sudden aggression and doggedness of the local media, more than anything else, that has unnerved the ruling party – and may be its leader too.

Much of Naveen’s current problems of course are the result of his own reticence and lack of articulation. He has always allowed others in the party and the government to do the talking on his behalf. But with battle hardened party veterans like Damodar Rout, Prafulla Ghadai and Kalindi Ghadai sidelined and the new crop of spokespersons (there is a team of 10 in place now) messing up things every now and then, Naveen has been getting a lot of bad press of late. He has tried out everything from doling out government houses to journalists to patronising an elite press club mostly comprising owners/editors, but to no avail.

Unfortunately for the Naveen, the disenchantment with him is not restricted to the media alone. Suddenly, the bureaucracy too has become wary of sticking its neck out for him. Exasperated with his whimsical decision making and haughty manners, top bureaucrats have made a beeline for the Centre. Five, including former chief secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, have already left while twice as many are anxiously waiting for their turn to move out.

Curiously, the man who is widely believed to have hastened the departure of most of these senior bureaucrats, the Chief Minister’s private secretary Karthikeyan Pandian, has himself sought to move out, according to reliable sources. The grapevine has it that the man Naveen had handed over the reins of his government – and even the party – over the last two years or so has suddenly fallen foul of his boss. Naveen apparently believes now that it is Pandian who has earned him an array of enemies, including the media, with his high handed handling of matters.

Without a family of his own, Naveen Patnaik has always been a loner. But with his most trusted lieutenants in the party and the government having either disgraced themselves or become disenchanted with their leader, he has never been lonelier than he is now.