Odisha Diary: What’s in a name? Ask those who remember Biju Patnaik

There seems to be a conscious effort on the part of Odisha’s maiden BJP government to erase the legacy of Biju Patnaik. A larger-than-life figure who dominated state politics for over three decades, Biju Patnaik—Biju babu as he is popularly known, father of BJD supremo and five-time chief minister Naveen Patnaik—has been the Biju Janata Dal’s primary poll mascot since its inception.

Ever since the Mohan Majhi-led BJP government came to power last year—with a slender majority in the 147-strong Odisha assembly—it has been trying every trick in the book to dismantle Biju babu’s legacy. Its latest move in this direction is a new low—delinking Biju babu’s birth anniversary (5 March) from Panchayati Raj Divas which has been celebrated in Odisha on this day since 1993. Both the BJD and the Congress described it as “petty politics”.

While the BJD organised statewide protests on 6 March, Naveen Patnaik lashed out at the BJP for ignoring his father’s contribution to the strengthening of the three-tier panchayati raj system in the state and according 33 per cent reservation to women in these institutions.

“Such attempts speak of immature politics and small minds,” said Naveen Patnaik as he recalled how the new BJP state government’s attempt to rename the Biju Patnaik Sports Award (instituted in 2001) as Odisha Rajya Krida Samman had been stymied by public pressure.

Listing the many achievements of his illustrious father—who is among the makers of modern Odisha—Naveen accused the government of trying to distort history. “But [the] people will not let them succeed. History is an open book […] Biju babu is not just a state leader or national leader, but an international leader. Pride of India. You cannot change a glorious legacy,” he asserted.

Congress leaders also denounced the move. Biju babu, who led a Congress government during his first stint as the state’s chief minister in the early 1960s, had friends across the political spectrum. “He was a towering figure who rubbed shoulders with the tallest leaders of the country. His appeal cut across parties. The present government should not forget his immense contribution to the state, especially in building panchayati raj institutions and empowering women,” said Congress leader and former MLA Lalatendu Mohapatra.

However, the BJP government, which has also scrapped the customary public holiday on 5 March, justifies its decision on the grounds that observing 5 March as Panchayati Raj Divas in Odisha and celebrating National Panchayati Raj Day on 24 April was creating unnecessary confusion. ‘To overcome this inconsistency at the national and state levels in the celebration of Panchayati Raj Day, the state government has decided to no longer celebrate 5 March as Panchayati Raj Day in Odisha and will instead celebrate it on 24 April,’ a statement from the chief minister’s office said.

The government has, however, decided that Biju babu’s birth anniversary would continue to be celebrated on 5 March, albeit without a holiday.

On 5 March, chief minister Mohan Majhi led the state in paying tributes to Biju babu and sought to assure the people that his government would do everything possible to fulfil his vision by giving shape to a prosperous Odisha by 2036.

“There is no difference between Biju babu’s dreams and the programmes of our government. Biju babu had envisioned a prosperous Odisha. Our government has initiated efforts to achieve this goal,” he said, addressing a function organised to mark the occasion.

The Opposition, however, saw this as hypocrisy. “They want to erase his legacy as they fear it would help us in the elections. They have not just delinked his birth anniversary from Panchayati Raj Divas, they have also done away with the practice of organising an Entrepreneurs’ Week from 5 March to honour Biju babu. The government did not make any budgetary provision for that.

Similarly, the BJP-led centre has also withdrawn its share in the UNESCO Kalinga prize for popularisation of science [that was] established with the help of Biju Patnaik,” said senior BJD leader and former minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak.

Incidentally, this is not the first instance of the new BJP government trying to do away with things that remind people of Biju babu who, apart from being a highly respected politician, was also a pioneering entrepreneur and a daring pilot. Soon after coming to power, the Majhi government rechristened several schemes named after the leader to honour his contribution to the state.

While the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY), the flagship health scheme of the previous BJD government, was renamed Gopabandhu Jana Arogya Yojana, the Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana became the Antyodaya Gruha Yojana and Biju Setu Yojana is now called Setu Bandhan Yojana.

The Majhi government has, in fact, been on a rebranding spree, inviting criticism from the Opposition. It has even rechristened the BJD government’s development initiative ‘Ama Odisha, Naveen Odisha’ as ‘Viksit Gaon, Viksit Odisha’.

Soon after chief minister Mohan Majhi, who also holds the finance portfolio, presented his maiden budget in the state assembly in July last year, Naveen Patnaik, now the Leader of Opposition, accused Majhi of filching more than 40 schemes of his government and ‘introducing’ them under new names. Sound familiar? (Think of all the central government schemes originally launched by the Manmohan Singh government that were renamed with a convenient ‘Pradhan Mantri’ suffix.)

The BJP government couldn’t care less about such criticism. If, as they insist, they simply mean ‘to honour the many great sons of Odisha who did not get their due in the past’, could that not have been done without erasing the name and contribution of Biju Patnaik?