Odisha: PM’s Jibes at Patnaik, ‘Threatening Tone’ Acts of Desperation?

“Ghar mein ghus kar marenge” (we will enter homes and kill) and “Kamar Tod Denge” (we will break backs) the two metaphors were from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on two different occasions. One was aimed at Pakistan soon after he took over reins of India as the Prime Minister (in 2014) and the other one was in Odisha while addressing an election rally on Monday last.

It is for the people to decide how far such deliberations are palatable from the man at the top-most position in the country.

The second jibe was aimed at the Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led dispensation where Modi keeps demonstrating his defensive ferocity, either to calm down his inner frustration or because the fear of losing ground in the Hindi heartland in his quest for the oft-repeated slogan of ‘Abki baar, 400 paar’ (we will win over 400 seats).

That was obviously a selective metaphor for not sparing the corrupt, but observers look at that usage as unacceptable for any decent deliberation.

“It smacks of a kind of frustration within, or a fear of losing ground in other states. He (the PM) is now somehow seeking respite from Odisha as far as possible for his goal for ‘400+seats’, said Priya Ranjan Sahoo, a senior political analyst.

The PM spoke those words while attacking the people surrounding Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, alleging that an “unholy alliance” of few people had nearly made the CM captive.

He hinted at a “group of corrupt and self-seeking officers” who, the PM said were a “hindrance for the development of Odisha which is so rich, yet people here rot in poverty.”

Modi said those who were in league with ‘mafia’ shall not be spared at any cost, also sounding a warning to the CM, by implication, that “such a coterie has seen to it that the state is mired in a terrible mess of Ponzi scams and mining scams”.

“It seems this is one weapon that the PM has still kept confined within the sheath to scare the BJD top brass in Odisha” said Rabi Das, a political analyst.

It was as if he wanted to say that the arms of the law were not far from the Naveen-led dispensation and the cloud of vigil might burst anytime if the results do not augur well for BJD on June 4.

This appears to be a kind of double-edged weapon in the armoury of the PM, which may come out as and when required.        

In his address in Puri the same day, PM Modi questioned the morality of BJD as regards the mystery behind the missing key of ‘Ratna Bhandar’ (main store room of ornaments) of Lord Jagannath and alleged that the key had reached Tamil Nadu, in an apparent swipe at a BJD leader, who hails from Tamil Nadu and is allegedly running the affairs of the BJD government here. 

That PM’s “taunt” not only sounds premature but is being seen as intended to stoke regional sentiments of the people of Puri and Odisha.

Terming the chief minister as ‘captive’ in the hands of a “corrupt group” also smacks of distress within the BJP in general, and in the PM in particular. 

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Odisha. The views are personal.