Patnaik Scripts Political History in Orissa

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has become the first regional party to come to power on its own in Orissa when a 21-member ministry headed by the 62-year-old Naveen Patnaik was sworn in.

Patnaik, the first leader to become Chief Minister for the third consecutive term, and other ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor M C Bhandare. Seven of the 12 BJD ministers, who were part of the previous BJD-BJP coalition government, have also been included.

Setback for BJP
In the present term, however, the saffron outfit is crestfallen, with just six seats in the kitty out of the 147 it contested. This happens to be the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) worst performance ever in Orissa.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that without Naveen Patnaik’s political support, the party is back to where it started from in 1985 when it fought 67 seats and won one. In 1990 state elections, the BJP repeated its poor performance winning just two seats of the 62 where it fielded its candidates.

Negativism Factor
It was only in 2000 when the party joined hands with Patnaik that the story of its redemption began. For the first time in its existence in the eastern state, the BJP bagged 38 of the 63 seats it contested; it came back with flying colours in the 2004 Assembly elections by winning 32 of the 63 seats it fought.

Strangely, the only occasions where the party fared well in Orissa were the ones where they enjoyed Patnaik’s affections.

With the BJD support gone this time, the BJP is back to its old fledgling state, while the Congress has regained some seat and vote share in the state. And yet, the saffron grouping lost no time in forgetting old favours.

It arrogantly parted ways with Patnaik, following the collapse of seat sharing talks in March 2009. Not stopping at that, the BJP also turned its campaign against the man whose image had yielded them electoral benefits in the past.

No wonder, the negativism came back to haunt the BJP, which was routed in general elections this time, not bagging a single seat in Orissa, whereas it had, in alliance with the BJD in 1998 and 1999, won seven and nine seats, respectively, out of the nine and 11 contested.

On the other hand, the BJD emerged stronger than ever. With Patnaik, sans the BJP, bagging 14 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats and 103 of the 147 assembly berths, it is clear that the only factor that worked in Orissa was Patnaik’s clean image and his courage to go it alone.

Beginning of a New Political Chapter
The third consecutive coronation of Naveen Patnaik as the Chief Minister of Orissa marks the beginning of a new political chapter in the history of the coastal state.

For the 12-year-old Biju Janata Dal (BJD), it is indeed a watershed -- one that few could have predicted until a month ago, given the party’s bitter parting with coalition partner, the BJP, and the latter’s vicious poll campaign that prided in accusing Patnaik of betrayals.

Ten years back when Naveen Panaik became Orissa’s Chief Minister, he was new to politics, considered immature and suffered from a handicap; he could not converse in Oriya. But he picked up the ropes fast, matured politically and proved smarter than the BLP leaders, his ally for the last 11 years. He dropped a bombshell when an emissary of L.K. Advani met him in March and was tersely told that BJD could not offer more than 31 Assembly and five Lok Sabha seats to the BJP.

Naveen did not lose his composure even for a moment while telling Advani’s emissary that the alliance with the BJP was over. The BJP leaders, who thought Naveen to be their most dependable ally, were shocked and changed their tunes, calling him a “serial killer” and “betrayer”. The BJP’s harsh words notwithstanding, there is a grudging admiration for the BJD Chief in the BJP circles. He is seen as a smarter politician compared with much senior ones in the BJP. More important, people see him as a clean politician, who is striving to end corruption.

That the campaign boomeranged is history, with the BJP now reduced to near nothingness in a State where it enjoyed a considerable clout over 11 years of coalition rule with the BJD.

Naveen Patnaik is known to be politically shrewd. However, some of his colleagues did not quite appreciate his parleys with CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat in the run-up to the elections and his inclination towards the nebulous Third Front. The people have indeed shown the door to Mr Karat and his style of politics.

Now that Manmohan Singh has taken over as Prime Minister for the second term, Naveen Patnaik would do well to extend all possible support to the Government at the Centre and pursue constructive politics in the larger interest of the State.

North Korea Conducts Second Nuclear Test

Unfazed by global pressure, a defiant North Korea conducted a "successful" underground nuclear test on May 25, 2009, far more powerful than its first one in October 2006. The test was aimed at strengthening North Korea's self-defence nuclear deterrent in every way.

In April 2009, Pyongyang pulled out of six-party talks on its nuclear programme, in protest against international condemnation of its test-firing a rocket.

The UN Security Council had imposed sanctions on North Korea and banned the country from all activities related to its nuclear weapons programme following its first test in 2006.

Confining International Community
The present test was up to 20 times more powerful than the North’s first nuclear test about two-and a-half-year ago, underscoring the advances in its nuclear programme despite multilateral talks on ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons ambitions.

The latest test will confound the international community, which has for years tried a mixture of huge aid pledges and tough economic sanctions to persuade the impoverished North to give up efforts to build a nuclear arsenal. It is also bound to raise concerns about proliferation, a major worry of the United States which has in the past accused Pyongyang of trying to sell its nuclear know-how to states such as Syria.

Japan, South Korea and the US — along with China and Russia — have been negotiating since 2003 to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear programmes in exchange for energy aid and security guarantees.

The US President Barack Obama said North Korea's attempts at developing nuclear weapons was a threat to international peace and security, while the North’s neighbour and long-time benefactor, China, said it was “resolutely opposed” to the test.

Russia, which also called the test a threat to regional security, said the blast was about equal in power to the US atom bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki in the Second World War.

North Korea had warned their Governments of the test about an hour before detonation, but nearby Japan said it was not given advance notice. Germany, Britain and France were among the nations condemning the test while the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was “deeply worried.”

The Objective
The test also will serve to raise North Korea’s leverage in any negotiations with the United States. It comes as speculation has mounted that leader Kim Jong-il, his health uncertain after reports of a stroke last year, wants to strengthen an already iron grip on power so he can better secure the succession for one of his three sons.

North Korea’s attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile programme, constitute a threat to international peace and security.

North Korea already is so isolated there is little left with which to punish an autocratic government that has long been willing to take dealings with the outside world to the brink. At home, its leaders repeatedly stress the threat from a hostile United States to justify heavy spending on the military that keeps them in power but which has meant deepening poverty, at times famine, for most of the rest of its 23 million people.

The test also will serve to raise North Korea’s leverage in any negotiations with the US. It comes as speculation has mounted that leader Kim Jong-Il, his health uncertain after reports of a stroke in 2008, wants to strengthen an already iron grip on power so he can better secure the succession for one of his three sons.

Blow to South Korea
The nuclear test dealt another blow to South Korean markets, already unsettled by fears of domestic unrest after former President Roh Moo-hyun, who had been questioned over his links to a corruption scandal, jumped to his death during the weekend.

South Korea’s main stock market index fell more than six per cent at one stage on worries by some that investors would flee. But the decline was short-lived and analysts said investors were used to the North’s repeated saber-rattling, even as it became more aggressive and would likely panic only if there was military conflict on a peninsula where two-million troops face each other across one of the world’s most heavily armed borders.

The success of the nuclear test at this time is greatly encouraging our army and people who have risen up as one in the 150-day battle, vigorously igniting the flame of new great revolutionary upswing for opening the gate to a powerful State.

New Prime Minister of Nepal

Veteran Communist leader and former General Secretary of the CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal was sworn in as Prime Minister of the Himalayan nation on May 25, 2009, capping the three-week long political crisis in the country that eased Maoists out of power after a confrontation with the Army. The President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, administered the oath of office and secrecy to Nepal, the second Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.

Madhav replaced Prachanda who resigned as Prime Minister on May 4 after differences with President Yadav on the issue of sacking of Army Chief Gen Rukmangad Katawal.

The Maoists, whose nearly nine-month-old Government collapsed after CPN-UML withdrew support, had blocked Parliament for weeks before allowing the Government formation. Three fringe left parties — CPN-United, CPN-Unified and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party — have decided to extend support from outside.

The 56-year-old Madhav also heads the Constitutional Committee that is tasked with presenting the new constitution by 2010. Madhav expressed the hope that the Maoists would join the government. He believed that they too had a historic responsibility.

Restoration of Peace Process
Immediately after assuming office, the newly elected Prime Minister, Madhav said his Government was committed to taking the ongoing peace process to a logical end and would draft the new Constitution within a stipulated time frame. In accordance with the existing constitutional provision, the Nepal’s Constituent Assembly has to promulgate the new constitution by May 27, 2010.

The new Prime Minister said that the cooperation from all sides — political parties and the general public — was needed to address the needs of the country which he admitted was in a difficult situation.

The previous Government was plagued with inherent contradictions and was shaky right from the start. Its constituents framed their common minimum programme amidst bickering and differences. Thus, it is no surprise that it hardly achieved anything. It allowed itself to be distracted by trivial issues and neither concentrated on development nor took care of the grievances of the people.

Tough Task Ahead
Like the previous Government, the new Government too has the historic task to complete, that of meaningful conclusion of the peace process and delivering of a new Constitution within the stipulated time.

As Prime Minister, Madhav faces a series of challenges — taking the peace process forward, rewriting the statute, consolidating democracy in the country that abolished its 240-year monarchy in 2008 to become a republic and tackling the Maoists, sulking after being pushed out of power.
Madhav, though a Communist, is known to be a moderate. He is an experienced politician, something which should help him tackle the challenges that lie ahead. For, his country has faced much neglect in the past. It was nearly laid to waste during the conflict with the Maoists.