What is the secret sauce of survival of Naveen Patnaik, the Chief minister of Odisha ? Apart from his clean image, populism and being in the right place at the right time without any tangible opposition, there is lot more to it.
It's the hiatus he succintly nurtures and maintains from his fellow Odias, refusing to speak their language, except some perfunctory speaking in accented Odia to raise his ante. We Odias love outsiders who sound different from us by speaking in Hindi or English - he prefers to talk in both.
This quality has endeared him enough to earn adulation of the obsequious minded Odias belonging to a state with a strong feudal past. If he ever spoke fluent Odia, mingled with the locals and became more accessible to them, I bet he wont have survived this long.
But he is not the first person to use this cocktail of secret recipe to drive home advantage. As Naveen Patnaik stepped into Odisha politics in 1997, around the same time retired the principal of our days in REC (now NIT), Rourkela. For more than 2 decades the Harvard educated Professor ruled the College campus with a firm grip. He created an aura around him by staying aloof from most of his staff and students, speaking in an American accent which is cultivated during his stint in US - "My Dhear Renkholians (Rengocolians), we are now outta thyme (time)". A native of Puri who studied in Odisha till his graduation once went on to pronounce a last (Sur) name "Choudhury" as Cowdrey.
As Naveen Patnaik has entrusted the administration to his trusted and efficient aid for he trusts a few, our Princial outsourced the handling the internal affairs of the College campus to a Professor, a self proclaimed DADA (Boss) who was acted more like a local goon than an academics. Both kept a tab on their opponents and throttled their ambition if perceived them as threat.
Much before Naveen Patnaik came to political picture, our ex-Princy behaved like the royalty of the princely state of College campus. Both were smart enough to figure out that in a feudal state autocracy trumps democracy as rod works better than logic and persuasion.
Odias in general are timid folks who love to be ruled and suckers for patronage. The principal threw some crumbs in the form of positions Superintendent, Wardens etc to enable the staff to supplement their income. Those savants responded magnificently by wagging their tails and behaving as vassals in front of the Principal who behaved no less than the Campus Crown. Our current CM does pretty much the same.
If he mingled with them with impunity, he could not have lasted long. Both our ex Princy and Naveen P who were initially underestimated, but used their secret potion to perfection - the art of longevity. Behind the veneer of their outward simplicity lies a ruthless personality to cling on to their post at any cost.
A successful person is one who converts his weakness to strength - both perceived as new and novice broke all the conventional wisdom to outsmart their detractors. One ruled his campus fiefdom with iron fist until he retired. The current Chief Minister is on similar ground breaking path - destined to rule Odisha until he retires or God decides to retire him.
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