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Unlike Mamata, Naveen Patnaik lacks killer instinct

What makes Biju Janata Dal supremo and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik different from Trinamul Congress chief and Union Minister For Railways Mamata Banerjee?

Lack of a killer instinct, say the people of Bhubaneswar who feel let down by Patnaik's defensive approach.

"Naveen Patnaik is a weak and soft leader. He does not know how to strike hard bargains," says Manoranjan Mohanty, a retired government employee. Many people, old and young, echoed a similar view.

Unlike his legendary father Biju Patnaik, Naveen Patnaik has in the last two years behaved like a puppet of the Bharatiya Janata Party central leadership, earlier during his tenure as Union minister and now as Orissa chief minister.

The BJD has ten Members of Parliament as opposed to Trinamul's eight. However, Patnaik never struck a hard bargain with the Vajpayee government either for the party or for the state.

Despite the lack of numbers, Mamata forced Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to concede every demand of hers, be it financial assistance for sick industries in West Bengal or a rollback of the hike in prices of petroleum products.

Patnaik neither pressed for special state status for Orissa, which was the main poll plank of the BJD, with the Centre nor could he manage to convince Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to declare last year's super cyclone as a 'national calamity'.

"The BJP central leaders know that Naveen Patnaik is a weak leader who is not a threat to the Vajpayee government," said Subrat Mohapatra, a computer executive.

On the issue of the remerger of two ex-princely states with Orissa, senior BJD leader and Union Minister for Water Resources Arjun Charan Sethi had even threatened to withdraw the party's support to the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre if it did not agree to the demand. However, Naveen Patnaik refused to press the issue.

Naveen Patnaik's lack of killer instinct was further evident when he led a delegation to the prime minister and submitted a memorandum about the acute drought situation, which has affected 24 out of 30 districts, in the state. Vajpayee merely assured him of granting immediate ad hoc financial assistance to tackle the crisis.

Patnaik also apprised Vajpayee about the strong resentment among the people of the state over the attempt to close down the East Coast Railway zone at Bhubaneswar.

"In place of Patnaik, Mamata Banerjee would have threatened Vajpayee of withdrawing her party's support to the NDA government if her demands were not met," pointed out Priya Kant Jena, a shop-keeper .

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