Naveen now traverse in a difficult terrain

By A K sahoo

Bhubaneswar, March 18: How easy it is for Odisha chief minister Naven Patnaik to effect a smooth reshuffle in his council of ministers? Will he dare to drop all those ministers who lost their faces various reasons or shunt a few of them out?

What yardsticks Naveen would follow to effect the changes?

As observers ponder over these queries, the gossip is running in political circles and in the power corridors that the changeover of the ministry would happen very soon and may spring a lot of surprises.

The gossip has its roots after the CM in CM’s Friday’s statement before the waiting media at the airport here where he hinted about a possible reshuffle.

Naveen’s fourth term, that is the current one that began in 2014, has been very topsy-turvy. Unlike the three previous terms that he sailed through smoothly, the current stint has not been that easy. He is facing a tough challenge from the saffron brigade – BJP and it was well-reflected in the results of the panchayat elections in which the party lost at least 174 ZP seats.

The myth of that the combination of the BJD and Naveen invincible is crumbling now. The BJD has apparently returned to the 1998 situation when it tied up with the BJP to ride high on the popularity of Atal Behari Vajpayee to taste electoral success.

There is not much enthusiasm in BJD camp now. The euphoria with green colour and conch is dwindling and people are getting more attracted to the saffron colour – BJP, as is evident by growing number of leaders and workers joining the party.

The invincibility of Naveen has successfully broken by the BJP. The party has in way project young leader Dharmendra Pradhan as the bête noire of Naveen, – sending a message to the public that here is what you looked for all these years – an alternative leadership.

Naveen’s reshuffle exercise will require him to maintain a fine balance between the youths and the veterans. The youths, as observer maintain, have got more than what they deserve, much because Naveen wanted to create his own set of followers to keep the over-ambitious veterans at the bay. Now that the youths have tasted power, position and all that comes with authority, axing some of them on any grounds – may it be in the pretext of non-performance or for their lleged involvement in chit fund scam – would be tough task.

It is further speculated that Naveen might accommodate some senior leaders who in the past guided the party to victory in different areas utilsing their political acumen and years of experience in election management.

With observers keeping a close eye on the much talked-about reshuffle exercise, it remains to be seen how Naveen does his tight-rope walk.