ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

Patnaik wins a reprieve as Sonia ignores rebels' offensive

George Iype in New Delhi

Orissa Chief Minister Janaki Ballabh Patnaik received a temporary reprieve from Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday after he apprised her of the controversial Anjana Mishra gang-rape case.

But the anti-Patnaik campaign is in full swing in the capital as party rebels led by Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee president Hemananda Biswal met numerous Congress leaders demanding a change of leadership in the eastern state.

While Patnaik showed no signs of buckling under pressure from party dissidents and stepping down, Sonia also ruled out the chief minister's ouster on the rape issue. The Congress president and the party general secretary in charge of Orissa, Madhavrao Scindia, made it clear to the rebels that there is no question of removing the chief minister at this juncture.

During his 30-minute meeting with Sonia, Patnaik submitted to her a detailed account of the follow-up steps taken by the state administration against the Anjana Mishra rape culprits.

The chief minister also told her that the allegations that he is protecting the culprits are part of "a political vendetta" carried out by party rebels. "We will initiate strict action against those party leaders who are publicising a rape to destabilise the Congress government in Orissa," he told Rediff On The NeT at Orissa Bhavan in New Delhi.

"A sitting judge of the Orissa high court will soon start a judicial inquiry into the incident (the judge has since been named). Let the investigating judge unravel the truth. But I do not understand why people are making a hue and cry about the whole thing," Patnaik said.

While Patnaik expressed confidence that his government would arrest the culprits responsible for the incident soon, he said the issue is being blown out of proportion by the Opposition.

The chief minister said Sonia did not demand a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the Anjana Mishra case.

Patnaik also met a number of senior Congress Working Committee to ensure that the apex committee did not pass any strictures against his government. Though Patnaik's fate and the Orissa troubles were not on the CWC agenda on Saturday, party leaders informally discussed the issue.

Many leaders said the chief minister won the day and the anti-Patnaik campaign will die down for the time being.

Though the OPCC president and Deputy Chief Minister Basanta Kumar Biswal met Sonia and other party leaders in an attempt to dislodge the chief minister, they have been unsuccessful so far.

The Orissa Congress rebels tried to enlist senior CWC members like Arjun Singh, Jitendra Prasada and Madhavrao Scindia in their campaign to remove the chief minister.

Sensing that Sonia would not sacrifice a chief minister on the Anjana Mishra rape case, the dissidents are pressing for his removal by pointing out that the law and order machinery in the state has virtually collapsed in the past three months.

The party rebels are also trying to establish links between Patnaik and a notorious Balasore-based criminal who is allegedly protected by the chief minister.

The dissidents -- who include the OPCC president, the deputy chief minister, four ministers and a dozen MLAs -- also accuse the chief minister of being P V Narasimha Rao's ally.

The rebels allege that Patnaik is not loyal to Sonia and heeds Rao's political advice. During the 1998 general election, Patnaik had invited Rao to campaign in Orissa after the former prime minister was denied a ticket in Berhampur by then Congress chief Sitaram Kesri.

Tell us what you think of this report