By Biswaraj Patnaik in Bhubaneswar, March 24, 2017 : Pyari babu died a bit earlier than usual. Depression had driven his immune system haywire. From the high heavens he was forced to fall with such a thud as would never give him recovery. He was otherwise not too well with a heart surgery quite in the past.

Recent years had brought smoke–related cancer. Lungs had been successfully repaired but defamation in the last part of life had devastated him completely. Partly was to blame for unattainable ambitions he began to nurture and mostly because Naveen lost trust in him.

Pyari never slipped into oblivion; he remained in public glare as a vanquished warrior! Pyari would perpetually hang over the BJD flag bearers as a colossus, for without his superbly calculated initial guidance, the Naveen–led party would not have grown as popular and huge as it is today.

Just after Biju Patnaik’s death, Biju followers lost wits as they would not be able to pull blind votes. Dilip Rai, Bijay Mahapatra and a few others rightly decided to plant a ‘Biju–figure’ to persuade the gullible masses that Biju lived on. That’s how Naveen was chosen- a political novice and a perfect gentleman who would only listen and take orders as the true masters kept enjoying kingship. Madam Gyan Patnaik only marked the beloved kid’s predicament. He reassured the confused son that help was available.

Pyari babu who served as Biju Patnaik’s aide and guide was still kicking and live with no wit, grit or guts lost. Thus did Pyari appear in the BJD horizon and there was no looking back for him ever afterwards. Pyari had known too well the ‘puppet show’ design of some of BJD founders. He had helplessly tolerated the arrogant crooks in the government only because Biju Babu was a forgiving, huge-hearted statesman.

So at the outset, he convinced Madam and Naveen Patnaik that the puppet masters would soon pack Naveen back to nowhere once the polls were over. Naveen listened and trusted him and executed the dramatic ouster of Bijay Mahapatra which caused massive impact across the party honchos. Bijay, virtually an invincible force as one of the founders of BJD was tossed onto the garbage yard in a manner that sent shock waves up the spines of all erring BJD politicians.

Pyari had never forgiven Bijay for his shady and deceitful ways of abusing authority for private gain, behind Biju Babu’s back. He had tried in his own tricky way to caution the legendary master, but he would trash all that he whispered into his ears. So pampering and protective was Biju Babu about a few like Bijay and Nalini Mahanty then.

The third of the trio called Srikant Jena had burnt himself down after being caught displaying utmost disrespect back-stabbing the mentor-master. Pyari had told Naveen that without methodical weeding he would have no future. Naveen surrendered to him completely as Madam Patnaik kept taking pride in her assessment of the grand advisor.

Successive strokes eliminated more, and BJD turned a force to reckon with across the political world of Odisha. Pyari was particularly hateful of corrupt politicians. He didn’t give a damn to dismiss ministers from the ally BJP too. At one go, he kicked out Prashanta Nanda of BJP, Kamala Das and Nalini Mohanty of BJD, some of whom came to know they were gone only while watching news in their office chambers.

Dilip Ray was dropped because of Advani’s pressure for some other security confusion. Naveen did not have any personal score to settle with Dilip. The high drama moved the masses in favour of the reformed, cleansed BJD headed by a saviour Naveen who was single and did not have designs of carrying any loot home. Naveen also did not pretend to be the sole master. He openly sought Pyari’s advice in every critical matter. Thus Pyari earned the reputation of a modern day Chanakya whose political calculations and moves proved unfailing particularly when he severed BJP from the coalition outfit when Bajpayee wave was sweeping across India and the pollsters had predicted a BJP comeback with comfortable majority. So, from 2009, BJD cruised on its own and with mounting popularity.

It is also not untrue that power went into Pyari’s head. Genetically an arrogant person, he would not hesitate to override Naveen even in public glare or amid bureaucrats. His house was anytime overcrowded with creatures that needed help or favour from the government- businessmen, politicians and of course the bureaucrats. Pyari was christened the ‘super chief minister’.

It is rumoured that for the first time, some shrewd, smart bureaucrats kept feeling increasingly suffocated while taking Pyari’s orders without being able to put in their views in important matters. They remained aggrieved and the ones with some proximity to Naveen kept informing the chief minister to rein Pyari in as he had gone wild with pride. They told him that the BJD advisor religiously made it public that nothing big could happen in Odisha without his approval. Naveen kept ignoring the poison for quite some time as BJD was gaining popularity and he had nothing to lose.

Incidentally Pyari had a couple of tragic flaws apart from arrogance – he imagined he was omniscient and infallible, the wisest and the brightest among the political and bureaucratic classes. This attitude was the cause of the beginning of his fall. He was so sure of himself that he did not even hesitate once before picking garbage quality sycophants from nowhere and placed them in positions of dignity. He made Sanjay DasBurma, Arun Sahoo and Atanu et al eminent politicians because they remained unconditionally slavish and men–Friday to him.

Later, during his nightmarish days, these ungrateful creatures did not have any compunction in looked away first. His biggest shock was that Sanjay Dasburma stabbed him the hardest by poisoning Naveen with more evil tales and wicked accusations than real to become dear to the reticent CM. Sanjay may have been right about Pyari’s coup attempt designs; but that he betrayed his godly master against all value and ethical standards. “He would land in hell one day. He is the worst human creature I have ever come across”, Pyari had rued in a television talk show. People keep saying that if Naveen lands in any trouble (though unlikely in near future), the dark skinned betrayer would stab him in broad daylight.

Elected political masters had invariably ruled the state until Pyari landed in their midst after Naveen became chief minister. Pyari knew too well that smart bureaucrats connived with pinhead politicians to make hay. So, he first told the politicians to seek the advice of the bureaucracy and take decisions. The bureaucracy in turn was instructed to keep him fully informed about all critical decisions. Naveen would only endorse routinely what Pyari desired.

The BJD was born around a time when the mining boom was happening. Mining made Odisha more famous than usual and businessmen of all hues–traders, industrialists and entrepreneurs from all over kept beelining in Odisha seeking space to open shop. Pyari made optimum use of this unique situation. The hitherto fund-raiser, a former prince and close Naveen chum, was instantly dethroned.

This prince allegedly put twenty per cent of the collection into the party coffers and carried the rest to his private treasury. Pyari became fundraiser and BJD grew wealthy soon. Later he even dismissed the Advocate General who allegedly made fortunes by orchestrating defeats for the state government he served.

A believably honest AG was inducted who lasted a full term. Senior civil servants who frightened politicians with the rule book and posed as superior creatures simply melted down before Pyari who understood the dynamics of administration and politics thoroughly well. He tamed all loudmouth politicians in a manner no ordinary mortal could do.

Pyari Babu did not found BJD, but he turned it into a formidable regional outfit to smash and shame leading mainstream national parties by consolidating the cadres across the state and publicising the achievements very effectively. As a result Naveen kept on bagging the ‘best chief minister’ award successively for years.

The greatest blunder Pyari committed was to accept the Rajya Sabha seat the temptation of which he couldn’t resist. Pyari Babu left for Delhi and the enemies began having a gala time devoted to poisoning chief minister Naveen. Time rolled by, and Pyari detractors kept misinterpreting all his present and past moves as ‘wilful coup attempt’ against Naveen. Pyari’s high-handed behaviour and strong likes and dislikes were all painted as ‘anti-Naveen’ which perhaps appeared as true to the chief minister.

Madam Gyana Patnaik was no more to contain the rebellious group and persuade son to discard rumours against Pyari who coincidentally had the unconditional support of at least sixty legislators who had told him their life would be given to keep him at the top. But when emergency came up, they slipped away one by one. Pyari was slowly but steadily being ignored by the senior bureaucrats. Naveen too had by now started believing Pyari was a potent rebel with enormous support. But did not remotely imagine there would be any coup attempt.

Until this day, no one knows clearly of the May 29 midnight act was a coup or a briefing session. Sanjay Dasburma played Brutus splendidly and created a war situation. Naveen believed the once garbage guy and dismissed mentor– guide – protector Payrimohan after hurling names like ‘betrayer’ and ‘backstabber’. Pyari never admitted to such allegations though he seemed to have attempted some kind of rebellion. The rest is too well known history.

But it’s absolutely true that Pyari died earlier than usual under tremendous mental turmoil and pressure. Once defamed in public for failing to hit back, he could not swallow the truth of being so weak and helpless against the Naveen team. All that he could not figure out is the fact that one may be superbly sharp in getting things done by resolving issues and solving critical problems; but without stellar glamour to attract votes, one is just as small as a street guy. He had the brain and the brawn, but not the beauty and glamour of attracting the masses.

Heavy smoking was pushing him toward death. But slander and shame killed his immune system too fast.

BJD cannot ever trash Pyari’s contribution. Naveen had to take the harsh step out of suspicion and distrust because he had literally left the BJD outfit to Pyari’s care without once meddling in. Pyari had turned BJD party so solid and deep-rooted that even he himself with all his might would find it impossible to uproot or destroy. And that little stupid attempt brought him permanent fall from grace. When the midnight coup attempt was massively publicised, the people thought imagined it was yet another dramatic trick played to attract more people to the BJD fold.

Naveen must be missing Pyari once in a while during grave crises, but new advisors are probably doing fine. So the brilliant fellow was never asked to come back home. Payri turned wildly insane due to slander and shame and waged a war to be lost from the beginning, as his tall claims of pulling the BJD party down with stupendously failsafe weapons, proved to be damp squib after every single ‘war cry’.

Naveen never forgot to do his job. He did pay his last respects quite respectfully to prove he is not ungrateful to Pyari whose words were once upon a time gospel truth!

Thus is gone a brilliant fellow who could have ruled the state as de facto boss for as long as the BJD remained popular. The day he began imagining without him BJD was only an ‘idea’, not a concrete party, he invited his fall. But political historians of Odisha will never be able to write him off!