THE MAJHI MAKEOVER

The Mohan Charan Majhi-led BJP government is establishing its 'people-first governance' by eliminating the perceived bureaucratic dominance of the Naveen Patnaik regime and blending accessibility, Odia pride and a development drive bolstered by central support

- ARKAMOY DATTA MAJUMDAR

Five months after taking power in Odisha, in a turn of events whose success may have surprised even the protagonist, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has one objective. To set a governance benchmark by which to distinguish itself from its predecessor. What it grapples with is this: a humble roots politician like Mohan Charan Majhi, elevated to the chief minister's post, invites comparison with a giant like Naveen Patnaik, the transformative effect of whose governance era no one denies. How to get a positive hue in such a juxtaposed frame?

An opening lay in the very promise the BJP made ahead of the poll: "freeing Odisha from the grasp of a babu." The Naveen era was often seen as synonymous with the 'amalatantra-or the bureaucracy. Its perceived omnipotence was exemplified by the ascendancy of ex-IAS officer V.K. Pandian to the cabinet-ranked post of 'Chairman 5T (Transformational Initiatives). The BJP is keen to establish that, under its reign, public representatives will have the upper hand, not a faceless bishopry of babus. As a cabinet minister says, its regime runs on mutual trust amongst ministers and their secretaries, not by the power skew he alleges defined the erstwhile Biju Janata Dal (BJD) regime.

Accompanying this is a set of two powerful mottos: decentralisation and accessibility, both intended to strike a contrast with the Naveen era. To put flesh and blood on the latter idea, Majhi reaches out to citizens directly at the CM's grievance cell. Frequent visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi undergird this, exuding a sense of proximity and sync with New Delhi. Modi was at hand in Bhubaneswar on September 17 to launch Subhadra Yojana, under two tranches of which lakhs of poor women have already started getting direct financial assistance. Modi is also set to flag off other key programmes.