CBA.PTER - V

197

CO!fG!piSS II' ORISSA& \922•1980

Political deYelopaent in Ortaaa has been

characterised by lnetability and ataanat1on. or course, party buildin& in auch a coaplex tra41t1oD&l

and heterogeneoaa society tnvolYea a treaen4oa•

taak, and political 1natabil1ty is bound to.be a

conatant feature in it. fb.ere aay be several cau•e•

tor this in8tab111 ty aDd one of the araaaenta can be

extended to party a,yst .. and party •ehavloar.

Since our approach ia to study the pol1 tics

of Oriasa tbroucb political parttea and party syat•••

in ita totality, therefore, in this Chapter and tbe

following Chapter, we focus our attention on the

study of •concreaa• and •Oppoaltlon• parties reape­

ct1Yely.1

t. We baTe diacuaaed earlier that tbe Concresa played a atcntficant role in the two Oriaaaa before 19'7·- Ita leadera worked for tbe crea­tion of a separate proYtnce, took part in tbe National Hoveaent and provided luidaDoe for the aeraer ot the feudatory atates with the · proYince of Orta•. !'be PraJa Mandala were created to cain popular aupport by deaandin& adain1atrat1Ye, political and aoctal reforaa. HoweYer, i:f tbe INC had not followed ita •policy ot non-intervention• towards tbe feu­datory atates, tbeae PraJa Nand.als would baTe crowa into amcb powerful and popular orsaniaa­ttona. With a cban&e in the policy of the INC,

· tbeae oraani sa tiona cooperated together to liberate the people of the feudatory states.

198

Seotlon A! £roa ll!tlODftl HoYeapt to a Poll tical

Party;

file Concr••• :foamd 1 tael:t in a 41"t1erent aooto­

econoaic envtrona•t after tadependence. A a a poli ti- _.

cal party, Congreas focussed ita attention on •natiollal.\

reconatnlotion• and'"'aoblliaation of Yariou.s aections.

of the society."

Accordlnc to Weiner, a successful party orga­

nization operat1n& in an open coapetitiTe eDYiroaaent

aaat be able to:

•recruit and train lts personnel, tbereb,r perpetuating itself a• aD oraanisatlont win euppert (goodwill, aoney, Totea) froa tbe population end subatantlal part thereof; and to aalntata internal cohesion•.•

Allona the several oauaea •• to wby llatlonal

HoYeaent started as 1a te a a 1921 la Orissa, two

1aportant causes - poYerty and Illiteracy - can be

t. Be farther aaintalns that: •It the party la unable to reorut t persoiDlel then 1 t bas no darabtlt ty ud its life apaJl ia ao areater than tbat of its ••bers. If the party is unable to tora a &OYernaent when 1 t baa a aaJorl ty of seats in a parliaaentary body, it would not only be appropriate to speak of the party •• aucceasfal but it would al•o be doc1bttul a a to whe tber we were apeaktq of aeYeral parties•. Myron Weiner, Party BuildiD& in a Hew Ration, 2a-ctt., p. 7.

..<J QJ,.Q _L, v

attributed tor it. 1 The Congress was neYertbeless,

the •oat popular political organisation tn Orissa.

Till i952tallaost all Congress candidates bad hun­

dred percent success in the various elections, and

the people bad great 1a1th on Congress achievements.

Why is it so? Several reasons aay be put

forward. Firstly, the grinding poverty of tbe aasses

bad attracted tbem to the Congress told. It ba4

tought against the allen rule and cooperated w1tb

the Pra.Ja llandals. The historical factor of a

fragmented Orissa 1 s said to be another cause for

Congress popaladty. This is why maDy Congress lea­

ders were popular in the princely States; and DIS.lly

PraJa llal'ldal leaders like Pabl tra Kohan Pradball,

Radhanatb Ra'$b etc. were taken into Coaaress fold.

1. According to ~e Census figures, the literate per raille aged 5 and above in Bihar-orissa numbered 53, and in the Bihar-Orissa States, the figure vas only ]&.Ibis was quite low aa o011pared. to tbe other provinces aa well aa States of India. fbe percentage of increase as co•pared to the Census of 1921 was only 8.91' vbiob vas also the lowest tn the Coamtry. Separate figures for Or.lsaa were not available as the State in 1920's and 30's was tagged to Bihar. But looking at the history of the State and its vivi-section, it can be assumed tbat the literacy rate during these years mast bave been quite low as compared to other pro­vinces of India as well as the princely states.

SeeaJ.B. Button, Census of India, l9'&• Vol. I (Delb1,19llJ, PP• ]24-,26.

200

!hla 1• vby the Con&resa progr ... e had attracted

tbe -asses and polltiolaed tb .. to a certain extent.

Sooqatter independence, representative lnat1-

tutSona were eatabllsbed tn n.noua parts ot the

State. B1at tbeae institlltlona were alle to the

people ot the teu4ator,y States, ~d were responsl•

ble tor expoatnc tbe lncoberence ••tween ihe polit,y

and aooiety that eld.ated in thoae days. 1 file •er­

aenoe of the GP ottered a new Ollallenae ·to the ,.

Conaresa. It had to w~den ita baae in VeaterD part

ot the province wbere re&ionali .. bad to be contained.

In abort, Orlasa vitll a ceab1nat1on ot two different

types of sub-structures, tee11n&• of re&tonaU sa,

deep-rooted teadal values and antiquat•d' aodel ot

social organiza tiona aade the Conaress task •ucb aore

ditftoult and challananble.

Vi til the •••• t of Ganclh1an epoch tn 1920a,

the Congress was partially eaanolpated tro• its era

ot 1ntelleotual1• and provided tbe tocua tor tile

uraes and asplra t1on ot the atlliona in ID4la. lilt

t. w.n. Horria-Jonea, The Go•eraaent and Pol&tioa ot Iadia, (Londoa, 196'), p. 56.

?'01 ·-

Conare•s bad yet 'Co aob111ze the rural aaaaea and

to 11 berate t.hea froa Jaelng ex plot ted by the aabi­

ttous pol1tlo1ana on co .. unal and realonal lines.

In Ortsaa, the early Congresa leader• were

ao etlT troJa urban areas, lli gil ca ate a and educated • 1

With Gandhi'• oall tor non-cooperation, theee lead.;..

ora aade attCMBpts to reach o.ut to tile •asses tbrou&h

local level Congress orcantaattona, Ussan Salabas

etc.

Thus, having dlscuaaed the aeneats ot tbe

Conaress, followed by an exposure of Yarloos cballa­

nges and 11111 tatton to which lt had to operate la

the 1•medla te post-independence years, we proceed

to describe, in brief its organleatlonal aet up as

1 t 1a re.tlected in the party' a conat1 tutlon.

1. Shiri~~an Hayaran, a toraer General Secretary ot Conareas araueda "we b&Ye within ~. organisation, persona belong! ng to the landlord a a well aa Ule tenant class; othera are buainess•en, lndua­triallata as well aa the workina class. lib.en aa tural d1 fferencea arise a a a reaul t ot existing conflict of class lntereat•, we try to atrlke a balance in order w Mt1s:ty bo tb sec tiona •. "!leed. tor Ideological Clar1 ty•, ln AICC B§o­no81c ReYl!•• Vol. IX, Ho. \ (June 15, l§~J, p. 9.

202

§tctlgll B! 0£Sf!D1gtioDal Set-llp!

Or&anisation 1a one ot the •oat laport&Dt

part of any poll tical party.

•In •odern partie&, or&aniMtiOD aaaaea areat 1aportance. It conaU tutea the aene ral setting tor the actiYi ty of tbe •a.bera. tbe fora co•poaed on their aoll­dari ty; 1 t detenalnea tbe aacbinery tor tbe aelectioa of leader• and decidea their powers. It often explatna tbe atrea&tb and ettlclency of certain partiea and

1the

weakness and 1Deff1ciency in othera.•

Conaresa vbich atartecl or1.&1nally aa a tra t1•

onal HoY Men t was ci..Yerte4 to a poll tical party oa

tbe ••• of independence. I !he party eYolYed a

1. Maurice Du.verser, Op.ci t., p. '· a 1. After independence, GandblJt bad planne4L.epa­

ra te course of acttora tor the Inditm Jfational Conar•••· The day before hia aaa-.tnation in 19,8, GandblJi bad worked out a brief .... on tbe fa ture cocqoae of action tor the Coag­reae. The aeao 4eclare4 that tbe •congreaa aa a propa&anda Yehicle and parliaaen~ aachlne has outlived lta use" and tbat •tt auat be kept out ot unhealthy co•petetioa with political partie•"• Be au&geated tbat the Con&ress abould eYolve itaelf into a DOD• political, non-goYernaeatal social aerY1ce society• working towards the end ot rural deYe­lopaent. lt should not eYolve 1Dto a poli­tical party. Tboae wbo wished to engage in political and parlluentary work should leav• Congres• to create their aeparate political party. 'fbe Coqresa, in the opinion ot Gandhi, vaa to operate aa an orcanieation devoted '&o social reto~a. !he Congress could not accept the Gandb1an propoait1on, aa the aaauaptlon that ita acceptance would have left tbe coun­try without a ain&le political party capable ot running the aoveraaent.

203

4 .. ooratic organisation haYing on lta roll people

belonalng to all sections of the socl••Y.

ID OJrt·•ea, the organ1nt1oual wtnj of the '

Congress is patteme4 accol'din& to tbe proYislona

of the constitution of the AICC. At the apex t s the

u::tkal .. Pradesh Conaress Coillwi ttee, a representative

orcanisatton ot all Congresaaen in the State.

(a)

('b)

(c)

(4)

(e)

(f)

1.

!be aeabera of the UPCC1 oonst1tuteJ

Meabers elected by electoral colle&ea troa single aeaber constltaenctea (these ... bers constitute an overwheL.inc aajorl~)J

Bx-presidente of tbe PCC, who have coapleted full ten of )65 days and continued to be

· active aembera;

P-residents of the D1atr1ct Congress Cq..ttteea {there are 13 41atr1c ta in the Sta te}!t

AICC aeabers who reside in the StateJ

K .. bera elected by tbe Conareaa Leatalature Party at the rate of 5~ of the ae•bera of PCC or TCC •embers subJected to a ~aua of 15 •e•bera;

Keabera coopted by the PCC Bxecutive troa special el .. enta DOt adequately represented and others in accordance w1 th the rules prescribed by the Working Co .. tttee.

the otber bouiea workinc llDder the PCC are

the D1atr1c~ Congress Co .. ttteea, Handal Coagresa

Co•1 ttees and the Talak Congreas Co-.1 tteea. 'lbe

aoat 1aportal'lt bo41ea attached to the PCC are the

Working Co..tttee and the Election Co..tttee. 1

Again the 4elegatea to the All-India Congreaa Colllll1-

ttee are also elected by the PCC. Tbe.y include

elected •a-bera (troa aaona the •e•bera ot tbe PCC

•o should not exceed Vs of the total DWiber), tbe

PCC Preaident, the leader of tbe Conaresa legisla~are

party and the repreaentativea of other auxilla~ er&a•

nisationa of the Con&reaa.

1• the Working Collld. ttee ••bers are elected by the PCC and this is the aost laportant body w1 tb.

repr4 to the rou.ttne work ot the party. 'lhe Pradesh Blection Coatd. ttee conslata of the Pre­sident of tbe PCC/leadera of the Legislature Party and soae ••bera (ranging fro• It to 10) who shall be elected b.Y the General Meetin& of tbe PCC. It the •eabera o:f the Co-1 ttee are elected by two ... third -aJor.lty ot •~bera present and voting, they shall be declared elected. 'l'he vo ttng for aacb an election shall be by ballot and on each ballot paper,. th• Yoter shall haYe to record aa aany as votes as there are ae•bere to be elected to the Co•mttee. In case, a two-third aajority la not seCtlred by each o:t the aeabers to be ele­cted there &ball be fresb election by the s.yate• of single tran s:terable vote.

TJle President o:t the PCC 1e the u-ott1c1o Chairman ot the Pradeah Election Coamtttee• wbicb 1& the h1&hest body in the State part.y organisa­tion to recolllilend the Daile ot the candida tea contesting election to the General Election Co..t­ttee. Conat1 tu.t1on ot the tNe ~. Op.cit., P• 10.

205

The pattem of Coqress ••bersb1p1 bas tlaetu­

ated ln .t'ecent years due to spll t in tile party oa

seYeral occasa1ons. BoweTer, the total enrollllent

of priaary and active a .. llera ln Ortsaa Conar••• apto

Aaguat 1S, 1972 was 11 87,8'9 an.d 8,1,2 reapectl'Yely.

Ibis naber was collected after tbe party apli t ta

1968. Tbere ••• turtber change in the llllllber clue to

party apl1 t apia at tbe national level tato Cong .. U

al14 Cona-l.

§tgt1og GJ Concresa Stratea1es and fatte19 ot

Poll t1 cal Ko1t111 gU Pill

Alter baY1JJ& analysed the oraant .. Uonal set ap

ot the Congress in a 'broader traaework, we now proceed

to analyse ita strate&les to aobilise different '

sections of tile aoclety. Conareaa in Or1sA atter

19t7 caae to be ldenU tied v1 t.b leaders like Hare

&rt•na Kah tab, lfa1ta KraabDa Clloadbary, Btavana th Da ••

Jfi tyaDand JtalliUl&o aad others. 'l'hese people oaae fro•

t. Xonaally tbe concept •aeaber' of a partr refers to a follower or adherent wbo should -... diatln­llllabed froa tbe 'aapporter• of a party. A euppor'ter, unlike a aeaber, ia one who is in aareea8bt with the par'ty ldeolon and also 11Jlda hl•self ln a poal tlon to lend hi a support to 'the party but at the aa•• tlae re•ln• outaide the orcan 1 sa tl oa.

206

vide walks of lite and carried w1 'Ul tb• th•

aessaae o1 dedication and .acritice. 2be1r appeal

to tbe rural population was ettectiYe ODly to a

certain extent. Tbe lower and .tddle class people

were tapressed by the Coacr••• ideolo&r and progr&•

••••• but even aaona these classes (tn the Western

Oriaaa) the beneficiaries aDder the prinoaly rea1aee

were hostile to 1 t. The conflict between tbe royal-

18ts and the aiddle class ot tbe coastal reaiae

vas percept1 ble troa tbe aerger daya. Ot course,

it is rather difficult to pinpoint which political

coa11.un1 ty or gro1.1p caae uader tbe Congress intlu-

ence.

BoweYer. looking at tbe socio-econoatc aet

up of OrisM, it can be rougbly aaid that on t:be

eYe of independence, it vaa the Scheduled Caste•

and Scheduled Tribes people, tbe peaaantry, tbe

teada~ry chiefiJ, and tbe Zaa1n4are :for whoa 4•o­

oraoy and na t1. onali• had special chara u1 ted IDlcler

the Conaress banner.1

1. The close coop era tton between the Conar••• and the Xlssan Sabhas also contr1buUd to the Congress popular! ty aaonc the peasants. The Scheduled Caetes and the Scheduled tribea people were attracted to the Congreas ldeolocr in Y1ew ot Gandbl'a •••••&• towards theee oatoaate people. Tbe Kaaliaa to so•• extent bad alao aliped wi tb the Congress.

The Congress programme to mobilize various

sections of the society in Orissa can be roughly

ca tegor1sed as&

(a) fte Congress because ·of its lliatorical role in the freedom struggle bad become a party of saviour that stood for pure and lofty ideals;

(b) Consress was the oldest party in tbe StateJ

( o) Congress was the only party that bad mer.tbers of national status, like Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Subhaah Bose and othersJ

(d) Congress was the only party which hacl many eminent leaders who were equally acceptable

-to tbe Coastal as well as Western part of the province. For example, Hahtab played an important role in the politlcs of two Orissas• in tbe pre-independence periodJ

(e) Being the ruling party since i9lS, Congress possessed Tast powers of patronaae which was also of treaendous political valueJ

(f) Congress experience over district administra­tion was another factor which gave Congress a 'new dimension as a .ruling pdty•. Conare­saaen bad tbe opportunity to wtn elections to District Boarcls ln Orissa in pre-indepen­dence years.

Today, the Congreas bas developed eeYer.al

auxillar;y organisation• through 111bich it can mobilize

a particular section o~ the society. For exaaaple,

tbere is tbe Indian llat1onal Trade Union .Congress

(INTUC)a tbe Youth wing and the Women•s wing of the

208

UPCC, Again, there ls a provision in the Const1 tu­

ti on of the Congress dealing with tbe fact tba t per•

sons who represent different organisations,. worJd.ag

la collaboration wi til lbe party shall be taken as

the aemher ot the tJPCC, Aaoq the auxlllary bodies,

the INfUC is aost important.

Section D! Ideoloa: an§ Prosra•t•

This section deals wltb, in brief, tbe COD•

gress ideology and programme. fhe obJective of the

Congress as produced tn Art. I of the Const1 tutlon

reads a

"The obJective of the Indian I' a tlonal Congress la the well-being and adYancement of the people ot India and establlstuaent in India, by peace­tal and constitutional •eana of a Sooiallst State, based on Parliamentary D8Jiocraoy in which tbere is equality of opportunity aDd ot political, economic ond social ri&htf and alms at world peace and fellowship".

The issues before the Congresa as early as

19'd;•52 were tho. t of national reconstruction and -.

providing stable actainistratlon. It eaaphaaiaed on

issues like advancement of edacatton1 public healtb•

labour wel~are, housing schemes tor ~rkers, 1mpro••·

mcmt of agrtcu.lture labour and re-establishment of

1. ponstitatioD of the INC (!lev Delb1 1 1976), p,l.

tbe SObe4ale4 Castes and the Sobedaled tribes.'

!be Coagress attar independence devoted itself to

set •P a 4eaooraUo political system on the Bnglteb

•odel and to build up a sooio-econ~tc structure

that can guarantee Justice and equal opportat.ty

to the common 11811 •

It also realised tbat factors like coauauoa•

1181, res1onallsm, Darrow and parochial tendencies

were 1apend1ng tbe marcb of the Indian people towarcla

new goals and 110dern social set u.p. 8 With these

probleaa.s the Congress, on the eve of the 1957 ele­

ctions, laid special empbaals on issues connected

wl tb social integration, social traaatol'llaUon,

parliamentary democracy ud progress.'

In Orissa, context, the Congress took up issues

like "4eaocratlc socialism• as the party's principal

obJective. i'o pro110te sociall811 1 t proposed tor the

a.

'·

Whatl!Concress Stand! Pofj JleotloD Hanlfes!Q (lit ,:New DelLI, July 51 , PP• 7-9. Dft conar•c• MaDtte1to (Alec, ••• Delbt. 1 :19 2), p. •

Congress - U.N. Dhal:lar, .. Yo .. "n Vot.s 1_ ~ ~fY.H/va:<­c DQ_rh,, J96l) j r- 32 .

a bolt '&ton ot all lnter-aetUary lntereata in the

land-tenure ayat• and to •k• Ule peaa&Dt-caltiYa•

tor, tbe owner o:f the land cult1Yated. It p.,-oaoted

aore work opporturd. ties tor uaeaplored.; t.~ education,

atlli•wa wa&e tor the labour and reeettl•ent soh•••

tor the landless aartcultural labourers. Ike UPCC

appealed to the Yoters for a •welfare atate• Ullder

the Conaresa gu1dance. 1

In 1961 and 1967, it took up alaoat .S.ailar

1asues, tor its electtoneertn& oaapatcn. lD 1961,

'the G.P. had becoae 'the .. to opposition to 'libe

Concr•••• Crltioistna the G.P. hol4 on :state poll•

tics in Oriaaa, the Conar••• qnlfeato declared thats

t.

2. LCongress

'·

• •••••• tbe ruler• of tbe G.P. are aainly interested in aaintalaing tbelr iron &riP oil the people and thua aaaur1D& the aecurt ty and welfare of the ex-Hahara3aa8 and their, laatllea at the coat ot the world.ag class.

See, Election Hanitttt&J > Indian National Coaareaa (AICC, New Deihl, 19S7), PP• 7-15. Suren4rana th Hoban. Pa tnat k' • Ar.nta §adharan Wtnachan o• (Collin& Geeral B action and the Conaress (Cuttack, 1957), PP• t-8. Jlectioo Hin1~eato( ln41an •at1onal Con&reaa,

id-Term E ectionBbabaneswar, t96t). p. t%.

In 1971, tbe Conareas proalaed for the eata­

blllll•eat of aa open, 4.-ocratio and aoo1al1at aoo1e­

ty.1 It la14 •pbaa!a on the welfare and •duelop­

•en t of the tribal people who bad been cut-off froa

the aainatreaa of our Da U onallife for year a and.

are now collin& into their owa. •1 'lbe aanlfeato

proataed for the expaneton of the public aeotor,

nat1onal1aatlon of the bank, price etabilisation,

eduoaU on, deYelopaent of aoientlfio and 'techllica.l

education, proY141n& eaplope t, rural credit, land

reforaa, probib1t1on1 population control, ooaaqnica•

tiona etc. The aoat laportant aspect of the

1. bpla1D1D& the SoctaUat Society, tbe II&Dl­feeto read - •vbeJ·e the principal aeana of production will be under social ownerabip and control, production will be prosresstvely speeded up raiaiq ~. akndard of llvtn& of the people and there is equality of opporta­nlty and equitable dia~i-ution of national veal Ul. In an ecoaoaically ander•d4tYeleped society like ours, the Yery structure of poll­Ucal power and ita inter-U.nld.q witb tbt coa.and over econoatc resources·aake it neoe­aaary that the oo•and1na hei&bte o~ the eoono.y shall not 1te 1n the pr1Ya te hancle. ror they who hold -&he 11 Yera ·of econoat c power Will also_ ultiaately ru.D t.be pol1 tical appa­ratua. !be lr" exercise of the d•ocratlo proceaa deaaada tberetor•• the 1nterrent1on ot the State in the running ot the econoay of the couatry ". Blect12n M~lteatp• INC (Wew Delhi, 1971), p.l

I. Election Hantteato, Oe.gtt,, p. '•

?i~ 2 ...

maotfee'&o was the "national ra1Dtaua•. 1

In 197\, the Congress proaramme bigbligbted

on the distribution of land to landless, land retoraa,

industrial expansion, persenation of forests, 11abe­

rles, naUonaltsatlon ot ltend11 leaf, irrigation and

power etc.8

In 1977 • the central issue of 1 ts Manifesto··

vas that "poverty must go, disparity ra11st d1m1n1tb

and 1DJasttce aust end•. It pledged to solve the

un .. ployaent problem, focussed on deYelopment ot

acriclllture, industry, •tnea, forests, transport and

commualcat1on etc, fbe Manifesto released by Shrt

J.B. Pataatk, former Union Minister and ConYener

o:t the State Congress Election Commi ttee 1 a'& a Preas

1. •It is one o:f the b&ghest 1aportance that the 1.11dl'Yidual is ensured a national a1n1a1111 ooapr1s1ng the essential requirement in rea­ponae to food, clothing, holling, education and health •••• is established as speedily as possible". Bleotlon Manifesto, Op,c1S•• p. 1,.

a. Speald.ng .on the oocasslon ot the swearlbg•tn­cereeomy of ber Cabinet, on 6th Haroh, 197'• Slat. satpa 'thy sa14a ".... tbe drea.ul tor eata­bl1sb1J16 an ega11 tartan order baa to be rea­lized and poverty, 1nequal1 ty and saperatt ... tlou bave to be removed. Tbe tasks, tbou.gb Cballaaaing, could be overcome witb etrong vtll and dete~1nat1on•. See, Orisaa1 A 5evpbfpter (Cuttack, 197'}, P• 1.

Conference, declared tor a •lnlaua deYelopaent

prograa.e tor the rural areaa •1

The Conarees aani.teato proalsed .tor allloat

alililar proar&.illaea and. policies in the 1980 elect­

ions. An analysis o.t the Cousreaa election aanl•

featoea show lbat the baaio laaues like agriculture.

lndastry, education, land re.tora, poverty, price

etab1lisat1on, une•ployaent, better health facili­

ties etc. have reaatned ... e oYer tbe years. After

baYing dtsouaaed the 1deolog1ca1 orientation ot tbe

Congress, we now proceed to discuss the party in

orp.nlntion and 1n ita exercise o.t aa thortty to&e.

tiler w1 tb their interaction.

1. It planned to establish 1,000 ..all and •edlua ln4uatr1es in the State durin& the next five years. For the preYenUon ot tlooda in tbe State, the party prot)oaed to acc,ele­rate the ueoution of the Rencali proJect. 'ftle aani.teato assured tbe agrloulturer, a •lmawa fair price for the produce aDd pro­Ylslons ot inpats at reasonable rates, assu­red free ed110a U on to woato up to arad.ll& te leYel. It proalsed to correct whateYer aberrations noticed in the 1apleaentatton ef the land retoraa prograa••· the a1Diau develop•eat pnara••• tor tbe State, as wa• eDY1-.&ed, i».clu.ded 41"lnk1n& water and road co .. unication Jacilitles tor eYery villa&• and provi41na aedlcal centre tor every ,,000 people. See: Blecttoa Kaa1tea\g, UPCC (Bhabane•war, 1977).

Section Ba Factionaliaa tn Concreasa

fbe cbarac"enstic of the Conareaa as a

poll tical party can be analysed by tald.n& into the

account the perfor8anoe of tbe party at tbe organi­

sational and the parltaaentary leYela •1

Like a nuaber of other atataa in India,

Orissa too provides a fine axaaple of study of

atrugale for power between the oraan1sat1onal and

&overnaental wings of tbe Conareas.1 BeY1lla Maxwell

a lona Delhi-based correspondent for tbe Ttaea

(London) had observed with consistency and relent­

lessuesa the fact that dia1ntearat1Ye forces in

India are aaniteated through tact1onallsa. On the

eYe of the Fourth General Election (Pe,ruar.y, 1967),

he publ1 abed several relevant articles t1 tled

"India'• Disintegrating Deaoc%'80)""• Be vrotea

1. See Myron Weiner, Political Cbaple in sout• Asia (Calcutta, 1963), p. 56.

••o party ln IntU.a ia beyond tile pall ot taction. The faction ia indeed the true UD1 t ot Indian poll tical ayatea, the parties are teapofary and uttatable coall• tion of faotiona.

Pactionalls-1 therefore, baa beooae a co .. on

feature in all 4eaocrat1c cotmtriea. Party btlild­

in& in the new countries 1nvo1Yes treaendoua poli­

tical coapet1t1on and this ia boliDd to &lYe rise

to •tactional boss1•11 wl thin tile party. UD4er

aucb oircwaatances, political patronaae becoaes one

of the maJor aspects in party buildin& and political

ctevelopaea t. a

Paul Brass aakea an intereatin& atudJ of

factional politics in U.P. In bls application of

the factional approach to coal1 Uon poll tlca. Braaa

conclwtea tbat intra-party d1Yi sions are 110re 1apo­

rtant tban inter-party divisions. But, here we

1· De Tl•e• (London), Jan11ary 27 1 1967. 2. the governaental power is an essential inatru­

aen1> ot party conaolldatien on ladla. Mauy aocial group• join the ruliDI parties to der1Ye peraonal benefits. !be *pull' factor ot a rulin& party to attract powerful social aroupa towards 1 tsel1 ia del)ttndent on poli­tic• ot patronage. Patronaae aay prove tunc­tiona! tor a party under certain circuaetanoea like the absence ot severe political co•pete­tion in a country. The politics o:t patroDa&e can be dyafllllctloaal tor a part7 because it •ay create conditions tor its disintegration and decay.

216

osoEJo tl:!Qt both divi siono aro equally i.oporto.nt

load1na to party prol1forat1on, dotoottoa and 1D•

otabtl1ty 1n a political oyotoo. It lo thoi"oforo,

n eooosary to oxacino tile factors roo;;onaiblo for

ouch e. conflict u1 tllin tho party oyotoo.

£:act1onglleo to Orioeo. Copnrooo Dotoro lado;;)Qndoni)ga

In 1937, oloctlono uore hold to tbo Provincial

Aaoo::1bly under tho Govomocnt of India Aet, 1935.

i'ho loatlozr of tho UPCC, Nlltuultbtl Doo ooo approhest­

olvo of Conarooo ouccooo at tho pollo. fbo party

bad a uoah oraantoat1on and tbo .feodal oleBonto

uorc otrongor in coopar! ooo to tho Conarosa. N .K.

Cbaudhnry nao e.p poin tod o o tho Gono ral Soc rotary of

tllo Conaroos tn v1 ou of hi o lonll- otandtna aooocto­

tio~ tdth tho ru.oan i1ovo~nt tn tho State. t11th on

oloctlon oanl.fonto t1blc:ta proc! ocKl for radical cbanaea

in tho sararina qyotea, Conaroso contested tho olo-

c tloDo tn t1bi ch 1 t t10D 36 ooa to out of a to tal of 6o.

Attor coclna to pottor, conflict otartocl

~1thln tbo Conarooo. ~ho Soc!aliots cr.tt1ciocd

tho Conarooo•o dooioioo of Jo1nina tbo Govornccnt.

Uilkantb Dno, ~ho uao tbon a oodber of tbe Control

Log1olat1vo AsoCJbly, t1antc!1 to aoouco tbo 1oo.aorob1p

217

of the Prcwtnclal Lealalature. 1 Be was oppoaed by

tbe . Habtab group- In 19'7, Habkb becar~e the

prealdent o1 the UPCC by defeating Hilkaatb Baa by

a -.rgin of '' to 12 vo tea. Bat the leaderab:lp of

the Congress lealalature party becaae a aensitiYe

issue. Mabtab wan ted Choudhury to aaauae tbe lead­

ership of tbe ,legislative wing, while tbe c.s.P~

dld not allow Choudhury to contest tbe election.

Finally, Mahtab faction sponsored tbe candidature

of KanllD&O while the Daa faction aponaored tbe.naae

of B1swanath Das. In the final toan41 Daa won tbe

leadership battle.

During tbia period, Con&reas politics how­

eYer, bad some touch of caste-colour in 1 t. D1 ....

appointed with his failure to capture leaderahip

in tbe Cousresa, Ni lkantb Das and Godavari all Hiahra

both Brabaina toraed a separate Brahain doalnated

!roup and cballana•d tbe non-braba1D group led by

t. Rilkanth Daa dis not contest tbe election to the Provincial Aas•bly IIDlike oiber prou­nent Conaress leaders like Govinda BallaY Pant ot U.P., c. BaJa Gopalacbari of Madra•• Sr1kr1P.Da Sinha. of Bihar aDd B.G. Jaler ot Boabay. They~_:were all •eaber• ot the Central LeatalatlYe Aaaea-ly, but opted tor their reapectiTe ProT1nc1al Aaaeabliea durins tbe General Election.

Hahtab and Kanuaao. fhe foraer groap did not heat­

tate to align themselYea openly with the i•ud,l elements represented by the ex-princes of Orissa. \

In 1936, election& to the UPCC was held and \\

Sbri Gopabandhu CboudhllJ?' was elect eel as its -Prest-

' dent. The Das-Mishra faction continued in their

move to capture the organization. They v.anted to

ensure their •apport froa R.K. Blawaaray, Sadaslb

Trtpa.tby and ·ethers from the southern part of '&he

Stn te, especially Koraput, GanJaa and Purt. In

1919 1 when elections to the IIPCC was held, the

factional feud once again came to the su rto.ce.

Mtshra represented the dissident taction

and Bisvasray represented the Kabta' group. fhas,

the final blow came to the Das-Mishra faction whea

Mabtab group won the organisational election.

Blswaaray beoaae the President aDd Choudhury was

elected as tbe General Secretary. 1 Later, the Das­

Mishra group, dissatisfied and disgruntled, Joined

the Forward Bloc.

1~ Pro• 1939•19,5, tbe UPCC bad Blsvaaray ae the President and N.K. Choudbry as General Secretary. Thus, the Hah'tab faction dom1• na ted the Conarese in the pre-independence period.

The first Congreaa Hinistry UDder Biswauath • Daa•s leadersbtp continued to function under areat

strains till October 19,9, when the Ministry bad

to resign according to the tenas and condt ttone la14

down by the Congress Resolution, not io cooperate

with the British war effort. Thas, Orissa oaae

under Governor's rule.

In 1946, fresh elections were beld to tbe

P ronvinctal Aaaeably UDder 11111 ted franchise. file

Congress won 47 seats and tonae 4 the Mtnt st.ry under

the leadership of Kahtab. the internal rJ. Yalry

in the Congress continued as before. For seYeD

years from 19:s9-191a6, Mabtab faction dominated tbe

organisational set up. In 1946, election to tbe

UPCC was held o.tter a long gap. The Kabtab faction

sponsored the candidature of Biswanath Das, while

the dissident group supported Sat. Kalat1 Choudhury,

wife of N.K. Cbou.dllury. In t.b.e election, Smt.

Choudhury won the battle and appointed Sbri Surendra­

nath Dwivedi as tbe General Sed.etary. Hah'Cab and

Dw1Yed1 never had any liking tor each otber. The

antl-Mahtab group was lett-oriented and finally

led to the revival ot the Congress Socialist Party.

!be CSP bad beooae al•oat defunct alter Choudhury'•

alliance with the Habtab &roup.

thus, 1aci1onaltsa waa a aaJor force ta

Orissa Conaress before independence.

£ectional~f! In Cog1£tt•• &9SB-1280t

Atta11111ent of independence could DOt bring

an end to the tact1oaaltaa 1na1de the Conp-esa.

Wl th the newly acquired power and treedoa, tbele

leaders tor1ot their oo~ttaent to tbe aasaea,

and indal&ed in &roup politics tor power, spoils

and selt-acbieYeaent.

There 1s no doubt that Jlah 'tab was the •·

disputed leader of Orissa in pre-independence era.

Other· leaders like Choudhury, Kanuuao. Daa, were

at one t1•e or another, Kabtab' a tollovera. But,

alter independence a croup o:t 'youna-leadera•

••r&ed inside the party, who were close to Hahtab.

Althouab at various •~sea, tact1ona .. eraed witbln

tbe Coqress apinat H.abtab, yet the pattern of

poll t1ca14eYelop•ent in Orlan reYeala tbe tact

tbat Kahtab continued to play a deo1si'Ye role in

the post-independence politics too.

2Ilo nou loadoro ~oro tbo traotod l!outants

tncul41na B!Ju Patnoih0 Biroo U!trn nm6.Ntlooon1

D.outrau ubo !n later yoaro atiornod t!lo Cb1o.f 111n1-

otorob!g of On soa. noutray bad Joined Conaroos

prior to lndopondenco and bad alo to.kon part to

tho QQutt IndiG Uovocontn. H!tre, ~ho uno origi·

nally n oo~bor of tho CPI, dofoctod to Congrooo

aftor 1ndependonco. He ti&O tho loader of tho labou­

rers ot Cuttach c1 ty. Ilut, tllo coot onoraotic and

entorpr1o1Dg acong th~ ~ao Patnatk. Be stoz~ed

bin caroor as an aorono.uttc engineer and later

b3came a pilot. Bo bocaco .faoouo for bls roocuo

operation of Prooidont Sn~orno and other In4onos1an

leadero. BiJu Pataa!l.I cacao in contact wltb t1abtab

!n 1946 and Clio broogbt blo clooer to politics aD4

to Cona~ooo oo cuch.

Patnatk•o aroac baa aluayo boon to industria•

lizo Orissa of Ilia ottn t:Jitbomt any flnaacia.l aas1-

stanco troo any Qb:la 1nduotr1al!otoq of India llko

Birlao, ?atao or Dalolao. ~bon ~!va!ry beaan bet~oon

the nab tab aroup and tho Yorma-'i'urtto, tlalltab :lD Ill o

affidavit to tho Or1ooa Blab Court, in 1967, urote

that

•Lookina at his entbuala• an4 baYing - · bopea tbat a ,eraon of the State would aet up lnduatriea in the State, I tried 'to &1Ye Ilia . all le&i ti• te bel p troa tbe Governaent aide. With IUCh help, be aet ap Or.lsaa , .. tile Hilla and also Kal1DI& A1rltnea•.

•

But, DiJu Patnaik, while f111n& hia affida•

vit in the CoQrt, in tbe .... year, o'serveda

•Habtab wanted to uti lise tbe organizational ability ot Patnalk tindin& that be vaa aucoeasful in '"ildlna up a nuaber of 1ndu­atr1e• like Orlaaa Textile Hilla, Kaltap. Airlines, KaliD&a Retricerator Corporation etc. and alao the international and intra• provincial contacts of B1Ju outside Oriaaa. It ia not tb&t Habta' helped in aettin& up the Ori sea Textile Kil:la and other 1ndu­atr1e& only tor the salte of deYelopaeat of induatriea. In .tact, be wanted to utilize the labour force and tbe tatire resource• and organisation o.t Orissa Textile Hilla at Choudwar an4 otber 1ndu.str1ea for hia political alas, by biaaelt purobaa1ng soae shares iD the Textile Mills 111b1cb was eYeB diali~ked in tboae ctaya by Kaha'taa Gandb1 "• 2

Kahtab' a intention va• that Pa illaik should

continue with bis industrial ventures witbout noun ..

ahin& any poll tical arabi tiona aa auob. But, wben

Patnaik eaerced aa an taportant political force,

Hahtab saw in h1•, one of his Sutu.re poll tical riYals.

Thus, tbe cordial relationship between the two lead­

era and tbeir croups ot early tor'tiea caae to an end.

1. 2.

Hahtab'a affidavit in Oriasa Blab Cours, 1967. 81Joyanand Patnaik'a aft1daY1t ln Orissa Blah eourt, t967.

0 0 3·- . ;;..~-

for tbe conYenl•c• of atudyiq fact1enal

polltloa, ~• baYe catecoriaed tbe period acoordin& to

the &eDezal elections beld in the prov1ace at diffe­

rent timea, because, tact1onal1 .. baa led often

to d1saolut1on of Hlnlaterles, detections and poll•

tical 1natab1llty in the State.

1222-19~71

The first General Bleot1ons were held in

1952, ln which the Conareas won 67 seats out of

i%0. Choudbar,y waa reluctant to bead tbe a1n1atry, 1

although, he waa the only acceptable candidate to

all the three aroupa - the Wfouna tarka•, the orga­

nlsattonal viq beaded "' 81awanatb Das, aDd the

Central B1&h Co.-and.

Hiniatry Jiaklng vaa not an easy task for

Choudhury, because of the develop•en t of inter-party

tlud between the Patnatk and Hahtab. In the aean-

. while, Jlabtab waa appointed as tbe Govemor of

Bo•baf, Bia alienation troa tbe State poll tics waa

1. Be to~ed the Kinlatry with the 10pport of the independent Peoplea' Party conaiatin& ot ex-conareas .. n and lfilkanth Daa~ This proceaa iadtcated • aew aroup ali.-.ent tn tbe Conareae party tn Orlsaa, vhtch &aYe atability to it in the Aaa•bly :tor ao•et1••

alaoat like a polltloal exile for h1a. Habtab

bad .. : tboush t Choudhury would be bla mn. But,

Choudhury developed a will of his own after asaua­

lng f:Jllet Kintstersblp. Differeno•• betw .. n thea

crew OYer various 1 sauea like land retor~~1, Ancbal

A4a1n1atrat1oa, Kendu Leaf Policy etc.

Failuna of the Cboudbua'• GoYtrn•enta

On the ,overnaental front, Choudhury failed

to ahow his ability ae an able adainlatrator. Flood

and drought -.de thin&• worae. the Chief Hlniater

waa cr1t1clae4 for his full-tiae involveaent 1D the

Blloodan Hoveaent in the State. The finance atn:l.ater

Kadbanatb Bath waa too pre-occupied w.lth the aob111-

sation of aaa• support for tbe inoluaion of Sare1-.

kella and Kbarswan w1 tb Oris a..

State Reoraan1aat1on Hovesent in tht State&

!be political developaent in the State becaae

worae wl tb the publica 'lion of the State Beorgauill&­

tton Co .. 1sa1on'a Beport. The Executive Coaatttee

of the UPCC beaded by Ba1Bll&l1 Patna1k passed a

resolution to ~he etfect tbat the Conar••• could

not take the reaponsl. b111ty of adainiatration 1D

•1ew of the sac recoaaendationa. aeaoiutione were

passed aakina the Hinlatry to resign. Hoveaents

spread in the province and the goYernaent resorted

to tiring, resulting in tbe death of atwients and

the people.

However, things cooled down when the then

Conareaa President U.N. Dhebar visited Or1aaa.

Soae legislators of the O.L.A. (all belong1n& to

Hahtab group) dfl~~anded for a change of leader&bip

ln the State, tn Ylew or the approaching Second

General Election in 1957. Thqyopenly asked tor

Habtab'a return to the province. !he other taction

howeYer, .. de representation before tbe Prea1dent

of AICC that lt vas Mahtab, who had encoaraaed

facttonalisa within the Conareas. 1

1. Habtab' • o11t-statea political role dllriD&· these yoara to encourage tactionaltaa within Orisaa Coqresa and to ouat Naba IC.rtsbDa Choudhury troa Chtet Hlnlaterahip la clearly perceptible troa the following two letters·• (a) In one confidential letter to Dinabandhu Saba on Sept. 22, 1955, he wrotea "When 1 publish my autobloarapllT you wtll lmow how lfaba Babu betrayed •• at a Yery crucial ata&•• !be whole plaD'. wa• to ouat •• ooapletely ~roa public lite and tben eli• ainate otbera one by one. Raba Babu manaae4 the whole acheae very caretullf. I sot fri.enda when BaMM11 (Patnatk} vaa ouated and 81ren waa diailluaioned. But they were cleverly handled by !faba Balau at a • crl tical

••••• contd ••

,· ") .. :.·~

!iehru, who took notice ot thia incident

i.e. the rua,ar that the Kahtab taction waa work­

in& tor the eatabllsbllent ot a •llalltab Party• 1D

the State. warned Habtab, aakin& bia to tolerate

the Choudhury Ministry in the State and not to

create any rift w1 thin the CODgeaa •1

P.i. 1 troa previoua pace oont~··•• atage•. I put into the cabinet aoae new el•ents who were so raany cogs in the vhMl. !bat ia aoae aateguard aow. Otberwiae, the oonaerrat1ve eleaeota under the leadership ot Choudhury taaily would bave finished all otbera. Nov I tell you ay aiatak••··•·•· It is really a aurpr1s1n& and wonderful teat. Wow theae ldatakea baYe been co-1-tted. Tbe reaedy is that aoae at leaat auat re .. tn tira and &1Ye kloka even tt they lose at the first inatance•. See, Sunit Gboab, Oriaaa,ig fureoil (Calcut'ta, 1978}, P• 78. (b) !be second contidenttal letter read (to Biren Mitra on Oct. 11, 1955): ttHy point ta that nothing .tlould be done in an unsyateaatic ~~anner, oaly to irritate and not aolve. It tor aoae reason or other no 8flStadlattc ettort can tte aade then •• recoti:ctled to. yourself and try to do a a •uch as you can. Tben about ~ goin& -Dbtuabandhu Saba has •de ou't a poUlt that I should go now (to Orlau). Ji'lrst, J bave to aake out a caae to ., trienda at the head­quarters. I should not allow th• 'to lf:now that I go there to start a trouble. Ill abort, •Y preaent poei 'tton not as the Gover­not, 'but aa a top rank Con&reaaun creates that cUtticulty. Hut, it and when I go, I •ust ••• thin&• throu&b• But, ·x know ••et of you are not prepared tbat way. Next, the techD1quea of atarting an opposition requi­res tbtl t it ahould atart in the Congress Party ltaelt. Por instance, a reg.alar Opposition croup lnalde the Aaa .. bly and the PCC"• Suntt Ghosh, ga.s11., p. 78.

1. PraJatantra, April 15, 1956.

tlabtab 0 uhilo roplylma to Uobru'o lottor on

April 15, 1956, l:!'I'Oto tltl t tbo nlloga.tlona uhloh

bad. beon mdo e.galnat bio uoro all b::loolooo. Ho,

houovor, asoortod tb t thO'ro uoo ttnlty lno!do

Conaroos, but tbo pa~ty ~aa tncarrca tho unpopula­

rity end disatltJfnction of tho pooplo ln v!ott o2

ito poor rolo iJ3 tbo Stato. l:lo nlno ni'BOOCl tha~

bo bnd boon alt~ayo loyal to tho Congrooo !n Ori ooa

and aloo tbo Contra! BiBb Cet=JnDd, and tboroforo,

eo a ca.rlt of roopoct, bo uoald m ttu1ratt iroc lood•

orchlp battlo in tavoar of Choadbnry.l

ibuo, on tho avo of !957 oloctlono, Coaaroao

in Orisoa uao a1v1dod on tho guootlon of loodorohlp

loouo. Cboa&hury, atoaraotlod 0 decided to gu!t

pollt1co2''· 2bo c1niotry rooianod froo Office la

October, 1956.

1. &lliD{U\0 dtd. April 15 0 1956.

e. ~m.tatentmo atd. April ts, t95G. '· Cbomdbury•o doc1o1on tJao not accoptablo by

h1o follo11oiro lilto Pob! tra l1ollan Pradbo.n0 Smrroadrnno~b Patnn!a, OoQhanot~ Datb ana othoro, tsho t1oro ot>Poootl to liat:r~a.b' o Jroturn to eta~o politico ln Orio~. Ina Intorvi v ith Shri a~ Bx-opoo.11or, n.L.A. aocl proo on o C , at prooont tloabor of Lolt Subm ana Deputy IUnt­otor ot tho Contro.

ftabtab Rttu~D! to Orieaa Pollticsa

Ibis created a e~leaa• in the pol1tiClal

developaent of the State. The Conareae Blgh CoiiUn•

vae faced with the problem of leaderabip lsaue lD

Orissa. Several naees like Btswanath Dae, Kahtab

and ¥anuaco were sll&gested. ffebra was opposed to

Mahtab and Blawaaath Dae. Ni tyanand .Kanungo did

not w1ab to become the Cbiet Hlnlster.

Maulana Azad• who was tbe A.lCC obaener

tor tbe Eastern States. aeeing no other possibili­

ty requested Kabtab to take over the leadership ot

Orissa Congress. Habtab at first advteed tor the

dissolution of the Ministry and 1•posltton of the

President's rule tn tbe Province. Bu.t tbla vq not

accepted by Azad. On April 23 1 1956, be wrote to

Habtabs

• ...... You lmow the present post tlon of the party and the Congress aovern•ent in Oriasa very well. I would like, therefore, to know froa you whether you are prepared to take ap the party leadership there and ·become once ~re the Cbief Htniater ••••••• If not, we uy be left with no al teryattTe bu.t to resort to President's Rule•.

Jlahtab wrote back tba t it the Prlae Minister

and Bi&b C011.and wlabed, then be had no other alter­

natiYe than to asau•e the leadership of the Conaress

1. Xal1naa, 24th April, 1956.

Lcns!olatGro Pail"ty in Oriooo. tlnbtob tlluo rotu.l"lted

to On ooa polS tloo and ooow:Jocl tho Clllof Il1Jilotor ....

oblp on Octobor 19 0 2956 •

.&2.52:-J.2§M .

'iho per!o 4 bo tuocn 19 57-61, Ori sea Coaerooo

onporloncod n t!orco fnctlonnl otrmaa!o l1hlcb ultt­

oo toly loa to tbo onoraonco of D!JG Po.tDa!h e.o o

rival loaaor in Oriooo polltlco.

In tho 1957 olectionc, Conarooo porformanco

1:1a.e poor, conpa rod to 1952 oloctlono, no 1 t uoc

only 55 out ot 140 oeato. ntntotry C3k1DG ~o not

an oo.sy taob: for Ilo.btab oitllol", no Congrooo did not

fiaht tbo oloction os n un1tod party. ibo anti­

l1abtob group' o dlocontont t.--oo Olllifootod r18ht free

tbo boginnina. Allogationo uoro caQo thnt Dbtnai~

baa ttnancod tho PSP candlGatoo. Patnaih 4on1od

tlleoo cbarBOO but aGreed to tbo fact that bo ll!ld

g1nanoca tho olocttoneorina of ShUt SarrODdranatb

Dutvody, nn ocinont PSP loaQor, on buonnitarian

6l"OOtlGOe

In tbo .1oa1 olnttvo front, tho U!nlotry focod

a oortoo of no-contldonco ootiono oo a rooult og

1.1b1cll dofoctiono toolt placo froo the Cot~arooo to I

'.

0~0 ..... ~.

Oppoaitton part1ea.1

Coall Upn goye11111entt &259;

The Oppoa1 '&ion caap vaa active in fora:lD&

an alterna tiva govtrn•eut on the eve of Concr•••

downfall in tbe Aaseably. 'fbe CPI, wbtch had pro­

•1aed to aapport the covernaent witbdrev troa it.

t. !hoae who defected to and froa Conareaa were: Dettcted to Coagr••• froa GP; t. Blaanabu Sekbar PaAbt (25.6.57) 2. Sarangadbar Pradban (:5. 7 .57) :; • Hr1 thunJaya Pal ( 28. 3. 51) '. No obiuan frtya ( 28. 3. 58) 5. Puraabottaa Panda (28.,.58) 6, Jraren4ra Balk 7. Kalla Xuwa lfaikulu 8. Jtr1ahna Cb .Hobapa tra 9. .KriabDa Cbudra Slnp Hanclba tta

10. Rail Chandra Pa tnal k 11. Puruahottaa Jena. Rti(ect64 froa CoDI£!!•! s. KrutunJay Pal (2'·.'·58) 2. Kalla Debeari (2}.1J.SI) '· Hltradayo Slnp Barilla (22.1t.S8) 4, Sbr14bar la1k ( 21J ·'·18) · s. YattraJ PrahraJ (ao.s.;s) 6, Bazibar Daa (West Kodala)(27.&.59) 1. Gbastraa HaJbi (6.1J.60) 8. Aaup SiD&h Deo (Independent) Source& Coapt led froa tbe p .J.= 11A. Dtbatt• :trot 1957-1960.

On Stb f.lay 0 29 58~ tho Congroso Loaiolaturo

Party docldod to put up tho Appropriation 8111.

It ~oa tbe bottle by o oaJor!ty ot t~o votoo only,

tho nwoboro bolna 60 to 66.! Oo ll&y 90 1959,

tlabtab realioina the proca·rtouo pooition ilocicletl

to oubmit tho roslanation of tho rantotvy.

ibuo, iroo 9th tlay to 2)rQ tloy 0 !950 n oort

of poll tical otn.lenato continued in tbo Stato.

Oppooltion part1oo, ondor tbo lcaao~ob!p of

R.N. Singhdoo, t10rl1od for provtd!na am altonmtivo

govorncont in tho State. Dut, tho thon Govoraor

ot tho Provtnco 0 Shri Y.N. Sbuhtan~~. bo~ovor,

failed to B1Vo a propor doololon, boccnoo tbo

Con{!rooo clnioed tbo.t it o~ill mooan(lod tbc Ol!f}P•

Ort of 71 OOtJbOVO ill tllo Asoonbly • fi 'iato lDota.bi•

llty caco to ~n ond uhac tlabtab ~oc1do4 to ~tbfirau

bio reo:!gnation lottor Oil e:;ra Uay, 1958. J.?roo

1959-196!, Oriooa onporloncod for tho f!rot t!oo

a Conarooo led coalition aovorQcont io tko Stato.

2.

2bo G.P. boG ~5 votoo, PSP 11 votoo1 CPX 0, Socinlloto ono nod Indopondont ono \tho total nuoboi' o·t Goa to in tho Aoooubly t:reo 1'6}. O,L.A, Dobatqo 0 dtd.5-5-1958. SagaJ., dt4. 22ntl llny.. 197!.

0 32 .~....._.: ~ . .

!he new covern.ent worked tor land retoraa, coopt­

ratiTe tanain&1 state tradln& in food aratna etc.1

!be to~ation ot the coalition however, did

not end tactionalisa ia the Con&r•••• A new tact­

lou eaerjed under the leaderablp of 11Ju Patnalk.

In the contest tor Pres1dentsh1p of the tJPCC 1

Patna1k wae elected thereby 4eteat1n& Shrt Baaaaall

Patnaik of the Hahtab facUou, After oaptarln& 'Ule

UPCC, Patna1k's first aove waa the 4e.an4 for tb8

Congress withdrawal fro. the coalition Ministry.

This he 41 d to establlllll the Coqreas doainance

once acatn in the State.

the Mabtab taction, which doatnated tbe O.L.A.

aaked one of tta a .. bers, Shri Pabltra Hoban Pra4baD

to check the act1v1t1ea of Patnatk. PradbaD and

his group aent a telearaa to Delhi and presented a

letter to the GoYerDor p1npo1ntin& Patnalk'a anae ...

1n&l7 role in Orlsaa pol1tlca.1

1.

2.

Orissa BeYiew, vol. XV, Bo. II, Public Rela­tions Departaent (Bbubaneawar, 1959), P• 2. 'lbe Sipatoriea to the telearaa and tbe letter weres Pab1 tra Hollan Pradban, Dor&a Shanker Daa (Bbo&ral), Akbeaya Baratn PrahraJ (Baata), tfllaabara Daa (loro-Jfllglr), Pur~~&Dand Sa•l (Cuttaok-Sadarh Yoceah Cbandl'a &out (Banld.), Kanaoban 'l'adu (Udala), tfanda 1:1sbore Jeaa

cont4 •••••

t:; 3·. 3 ~ .... 1. .

Tbls re•ul ted tn a poll t1 ca 1 ata&Da ttOD 1Jl

the State. Tbe Central Bi&b Co ... nd advised Habta'

to wl~draw conareea •upport fro• the ooalitloB,

Accordiqly, Jla.htab •ublll tte4 bl• reaianatioll to

the GoTernor on Febrqry 2•, 1961. Or1s•a ca. •••r ~he President • s rule tor the 11 rat U•e. l

r.w. frO. previous pace contd ••••• (Chandbal1) t A.Danta Cllaran trlpathl ( B&Jraaon), Huralldbar .JeD& (Dhar lla&&t'); Chal tanya Sethi (Soro-Nll&lri), Makara Setbl (Anandpur), Pataa Cbaran Sallart Sin&han (Braha&lriJt SabJanand Cbaapa tl rai ( Bolaarll) , Raja Babadur Ball Cbandra JtandaraJ Deo (Dallikoti). Ina Int•:Ji!w \d. th Pjbl 'tra Hoban Pra4bg.p, ex­Hinlaier anR.L.A. o Orissa.

1. Pro• the bectnnlng, the Congres• Bleb Co..and did not take any proapt action again•t thla political uncertainty ln the State. Ia a letter to Habtab on Pebruary t6, 1961, Sanjeeva Reddl, who wa• then the President of A.ICC, wrote a

•!be ooall tlon GoYel"'UUent was foraed ill your State with specific approval of the Central Parllaaentary Board. therefore, \be CPB will baYe to take a dec1a19n reaardin& the dt ssolutton and the tlae of dissolution. Till 7ou. receive apecitlo inatru.otiona :fna the CPB, the Govornaent will bave to carry on ita le&it1aate :functions, like paasln& the •ot1on ot tbanka to the GeYernor :for the addreaa, presentation o:f -udcet, eto.". the Coll&reaa Vorkin& Co-1 ttee and tbe CPB aet in a :few daya and decided that tb• Hinl­stry should be oont1aaed till tbe end o1 the •u4&e~ ••••ton as a care-taker GoYernaent. the stand ot the Conaresa B1&h Co..and aade the Pariahad leader• auapecioua o:f tbe inten­tions o:r tile Conareas and then auaptcioaa deepened following a ata teaa t -de •T B1Ja

CoDtd., • • •

r:nt} .. -/' :.<,.] ..... t

In June, 1961, aid-term elections were held

to elect a new goverDien t and bring an end to tbe

President • s r.ale in the State. 'lh• Congress, under

tne dynamic leadership of Patna1k won the election

wl tb a tlawapin& •Jor1 ty. Mabtab, however,. did

not contest the election tor teuoaa k.aoWD to

bla. Patnalk, thus, beca•e the unquestionable

leader of the Congress, not only 1n the province,

but, be also bact the support of the Congress leaders

at the Centre.

Patnalk'bad always wished to industrialize

Orissa and to pull the state out of povert.y and

economic backwardness. And this he did with the

support of the Congress from the Centre. Several

F.N. t from previous pace contd •••• Patnaik on February 19, 1961 tbat the Bigb CoDILlalld vas agreeable to an al terna tiva ainistry in the State. §Ama.t 1 February as, 1961. During ·this period, therefore, there were clearly tvo divisions within tbe Congress -Mahtu.b group and the Patnaik group. It can be said that there was also a miDi•&roup beaded by Pabltra Mohan Pradban, who held an 1nd1tterent attitude towards ettber tactlona ln the organl sation. However, he was more pro-Mahtab group, and this led to the eaer• gence of dan Conaress, few years later in Orissa•a political developlllent. In 1961, election, he bad defeated two princes -Dbenkanal BaJa and Pal-Lahar'!- BaJa.

lar&a and amall•soale prestigious proJects were

set up in the State.t Planning Board, public

corporations were set up to carry on and execute

the policies and programmes of tbe goTerlllleni.

Balta& the State with contl4anoe was no

problem for 81Ju Patnalk, but, soon he fell a

v1otim to the KaaraJ Plaa. 2

Biren Kl tra • s selection as the leader of

the Congress Legislature Party was not easy.

Pradban and bls 1aotion.were opposed to it.'•~

1. Pradip Port, Sunabeda MIG factory, Talober Thermal Power Plant, Baltaela Hydel ProJect, the Express Bt&h Way, Cooperation and Pan­ohayat Industries, etc. Under tbis scheme in 1962-63, aeven sugar ailla, 21 tile-mak­ing units, ten oarpenting shops, etc. were launched in tbe State.

2. Many Senior Congress leaders were asked to give up their oztioes, in order to strenathen the party or&anisation. ~us, on Auguat 1961, BiJu Patnaik, wbo bad taken a special inte­rest in the 1mplaen~t1on of Kaara.j Plaa stepped down from oftlce, in taYour of bla sQccessor Blren Hltra. Seea s. Dld.ved1 and G.s. Bhar&aT, Polltlgal Corruption in Indi,e (New Delhla Pop&&lar Book Service, 1967}, Ch" IX aDd. XI.

3. They bad suggested nawea of Diswanatb Daa, Bare Krishna Mabtab, Naba Kri ahDa Choudhtll7t Nityanand Kanungo and Badbanatll Bath.

lt. Otber prominent leaders who had identified themaelTes with the dissident group were Sarendranath Patnaik, .Banamall Patnaik,

contd •••• "'

236

Bence, the Pa~naik taotlon onoe again dominated

tnal de the Congress.

The new Chief Mlnlater'- did not fi.nd the

political ataospbere favourable to him, Dor dld . he po•••&ae4 tbe leadership qualit, of Patnaik.

Corruption charges vere leYelled against h1a. 2

F .R. ' contd &oa previous paae ... Santanu Jtwaeru Das, Upendra Jlobanty, Murall­dbar Jeoa and Manaaoban tudu. They were all meabers of OLA. Kab.tab who .from the begtnn-1&& nurtured an antl•Patnaik feeling, became tbe guardian of thia.aroup. Being a member of the Parliamentary Board at the Centre, be could present the demands made by theae disat.­dents in the CPB from time to Ume. Amongst theee aeven dlsaidenta, Bama11 Patna1k waa twice the President of UPCC, Surendra Nath Patnatk its General SeoretaryJ Upeadra Mobanty and Muralldhar Jeaa were 1 te seoretart ea. Later they formed tbe Jana Congress group.

1. An ex-member of the CoDWlunlat Party, •u tra tried to put into practice his .pro-lett land reform theories first at bome. Be aattated tor the abolition of zamindariea in hie teth­er' 8 estates at Bagbunathpur in hie students days. Be was Jailed a couple ot times. Towards 19-6, bo Joined INC and later becaae a staunch supporter of the Patnaik taction.

a. Oil July 28th, 1964, a memorandwn was aubmt tte4 to the President ot India by 6' aembers of the ~.L.A. (all belonging to the Opposition croup) under the direction of Shri B.N.Singbdeo. They complained aca1nat tbe mtauae of adll1n1-•tration by Patnalk and .Ultra for personal gain. The matter was then referred to tbe CBI which sQbmltted its Report on NoYember, 1964.

The student agitat.lon ot 1964 further made tblnas

d1ff1oult tor Mitra. Finally ~e res1gpe4 troa the

office on February 1, 1965.

Badasib frlpathi who succeeded Biren Mitra,

assued leadership of Congress Legl.slature JJarty

on February 21, t96S. 1 One of the maJor problems

which Tripatb¥ faced was the ministerial crisis.

The dec1 ston was taken in tbe CLP meeting tba t 1 t

would not be proper to make any change in the mini•

stry 1n view of the elections in 1967. Both Patnaik

and the then Congress President KamraJ bad aareed

to this plan. a

But on ltth September 1966, a number ot

1•portant changes were made in the Cabinet, leadin&

1. PrAJa tan $ra , atd. 21. 2 .1965.

a.· In a letter to BiJu Patnaik1 KamraJ wrote about the "continuous pressure• brougbt on hiaa by the leading mubera of the Ori a sa Congress and Chief Minister, that Patna1k should lead the government again. •stnoe you were of the opinion tbat 1t was not proper to change the Government so frequently, particularly in ~iew or the general eleotiona, being so Dear had to agree to witb yoar views". dtd. Bind~o~stan ftrnes,L26th August, 1966.

to discontent a~~ona the aeaabers1• While answerlna

the Preas, Tripathi told that be bad aade chana••

with a view to leasen his bard.a of work and also

for the "efficient runnin& of the ada1niatrat1on•. 2

Dissatisfied with this aove, the 12 a1n1aters and

,deputy alniater out ot ''• resigned froa the cabinet

on the plea that the Chief Minister did not take

thea into confidence while aaking re-allocation ot

t. 1) Mr. !atyapriya Hobanty .... Revenue 6 Bxolse,

11)

111)

1Y! y

Yl Yli Y111

Education; Nlloaan1 Routray, Dy.Chiet Minister - Roae, Political & SerYicea, Supply, Labour, Baplo­yaent, Coamerce, Foreatr.yJ Baa Prasad Kishra - A&rlculture, Cooperation, Public RelatlODJ T. Sanaanna .. Tribal 6 Rural Welfare; P. V. Ja&anna th Bao - Beal th; Banaaali Dabu - Law and Local Self-GoYt.J Saraswati Pradban • Dy.Klnieter for BducatioDJ ChittaranJan Naik- " " " Industry A

ix) Santoab Kuaar Sabu- "

z) Chandra Mohan Stnah- "

" co-erce;

" Geoloay a. Cooperation;

" .ReYenue 6 blaeJ

xi) Madan Mohan P radban- " x11) Prabllad Hallik - " " "

dtd. Bindss!J!.n Tiaes, L .5th Sept. • 1966.

HatrubhuaJ,d~tb Septe•ber, 1966.

" A&r1cul ture; " Irr1gailon

& Power.

239

portfol1oa. 1 They sent a letter to the Coqreas

President KaaraJ coaplaintna a&ainat the untoward

aove of Chief H1niater. 2 These 41aai4enta, under

the leadership of Roatray, aet at tbe residence of

Hi tra to d1 aouss the future oourae of action. It

oan be recalled that Routray vas a trusted lteutant

ot Patnaik. It vaa thought that Pat.na1k bad aaneo­

u"f'ered thia aove to ouat Tripatbl fro• the leader­

ship of the CLP.' WbateYer .. Y be the reaaon for

the ainiaterial or1s1s, neYertheleea it directly

1. The thirteenth ainiater tor Community DeYe­lopment and Panohayati RaJ, ADup Sln&hdeo wae away troll the State capt tal.

2. This was a serious alp of tidal drift towa­rda disunity and d1s1ntearat1on of rullnc party in the State. ID a letter to .la.Jiraj on tat September, however Trlpathy aougbt perm1sa1on to real&n aa the Chief Hinlster on account ot difterencea with certain •ea· bera of the State cabinet.

3. Coaaentin& on the 'Conar••• Urtaia' in Orissa, Mr. P.K. Deo, an eminent Swatantra M.P. fro• Orlsaa observed: •There is nothin& new 1D their •odu~. oarrJ!4& to pu't pressure on '&he Centre and i e &b Comaand. There is a set of people in _, State who are in the habit ot extracttna Wl• due taYours troa the GoYernaent and wbeneYer

Lall their nervea and enercy to ouat the bead ot the administration• • .£their 1ntereats clash, they haYe not hesi­

tated to strain dtd. 66 S&Uidp.y Sta.tes•n, L 11-9•19 •

G4.o ."_.

affected the Conaress performance ln the 1967

electiona. Such "act of 1nd1aoipllne• bad.proved

adYerae to the Congreaa intereat and perfor•anoe

tn Orisaa on several oooassioaa.

1262-&2711

The fourth General Blecttona p10Yed disaa­

troaa for the Conareaa. For the firat tlae, a DOD­

Conareea coalition governaent led by Swatantra-JC

came to power in tbe State.1 Tbe acbleveaent of

the new aintatry was aaniteated ln the appolntaent

of two Inquiry Co~~Wlssions. headed by .Juatice B.a.

Khanna and Justice sarJoo Prasad. 'lhe ooali tion

aovernaent waa a aucoeaa ln the early pbaae ot 1 ta

i• The Parliaaentary Board of the Swatantra Party reported tba. t - "the Board bad a very uaeful report fro• a.N. Sln&hdeo. leader of the Ortsaa unit for the Party, regardinc the discussions with the Jana Concresa and other Oppoaition aroupa in tbe State, a.N. Slngh­deo was autboriaed to continue these 41 sou­aaiona in the obJect of capturin& power ln the State. If they dld not get a oleaa aaJority, they would atrlve for a Swatantra led coalition". fPdtftn Dftcordil and Di&est, Vol. 12, Ro, s,

De i, Allgus 1966), P• 9·

~ .. 241

oa1otonco. 1

Tho Conaroao orloio and party opl1 t at tho

national lovol bad its roporcmsoiono on tbo Stctoo

too. Tho Congreoo in Or1soo 11ao also dtvldod oa

tho ioouo of presldonttal poll. Pataalh ancl hlo

aroup votod tor tho official oand14ato, ~nJtva

Ro4d1, 111l1lo tho dl sst don t group voted/for In41 ra

Gandhi' o candidate, V ,V. Gtr1. fbo Sttatantra voted

for the lndependont candidate C .D. Dosbomltb. i'llo

pattern of Orisoo. vote trao- Girl (67 votoo),

Deobomhb ('6) and Roddy (15). !huo, Patuatk lost

tho aood11ill of tbo Congroao Sigh Coomand.t Bo tta.ntod

to patch up bie dif:forencoo but failed to l11D baol.t

the conti denoo ot tho contral lC!ldorobip. Diooatio­

fied, ho orsanisod tho "Utkal Cona~ooo"•

t. Tbo cid•.torm Deport of the Sttatantra Party ObQGl"VOdl atho Swatantm Party in Oriooa 1o in ooali tlon Gove.namon t t:ri th t.b.o dana Congress oinco tho laot Ooaoral Bloot1on. Tbo Utd ... torra Report of tho St~atantm Party reveals tltl por.forgatJce of tho Sl1atantra Party 1n Oriooa. It also hnObl1abte tho eob1evoQoDt of tho Party ln conotdorable do tail and aloo brtnao out 1 ts ohort com nas and tail ure s. Thi o part of the rogort io worth detailed otudy by otudonte of politico in the aob1eveaent by tho futuro of the Party.

StiaraJm (Annual Number, 1970), PP• 170.171.

( .... '

Because of the defections, and aer&er of

PSP with the Congress, the lattertJ strength in the

O.L.A. lnoreaald to 94/i'O• Leadership question

once aaatn becaae a delicate issue w1 thin the VPCC,

but, this ti•e the crista waa aYerted by appointin&

Bat. Nandtni Satpatby aa the Ohiet Klnlater of tbe

Provtnoe. 1 Satpatby continued ia Office for a

period of 8 aontba, when two ainiaters, N1laaon1

Routray and Gangadbar Praiban resigned fro. the

ainlstry. On tat March, 1971, the Chlet Minister

announced the dissolution of the o.L.A. and Preal•

4ent•s Rule was i•poaed in the State tor the tbir4

time on 'rd March, 19 7).

a2z~a~t211a

In the third aid-te~ election, held on 22Dd

february, 197li, tbe Cona_ress von 69 aeata aa coapared ,-

to 57 seata won by the Praaatt Party. Tbe CPI and

Jharkband asaur•d the Congress of their support to

fora the coYernment. Satpathy asauaed Ch1e.t Hiulat-

ershlp for the Becond ttae tn the State.

1. She was later elected to the O.L~A. in a bye­election in November, 1972.

•

?. ;., • l

244

But, the Conareas was not tree trom the ~act­

tonal te~d. The possi~111ty of a Bihar type ot move­

ment in the State, arranaed by the Opposition and

Sarvodaya leaders, created a peyohologi cal tear

among the Congress leaders. In. order to contain th"e

aotivit1ea and to strengthen tbe Conareas organ1aa­

tion,1 the Coagress organised the "Narora type Ca.p•

on Gopalpur-tn•aea. Shri S.H.Dw1ved1 was not invi­

ted to this camp. fhia showed tbat tbe soclalist

element within the Congress were not given equal

respect. The antt-PSP attitude was manifested when

in a letter to Hr. D•ive41, Smt. Purab1 MukherJee

(Gen.Secy. of the AICC) wrote on Oct. aa, 1974a

•The Conaress President• s attentiOD baa beeD drawn to a recent statement purpoted to baYe been atven by you about tbe ~od situation in Orissa in which you have or1t1oised the the State Government•.l

Jtra., MukherJee also reaa1D4e4 bill tba$

"The Congt'essDlen are not to go to the Press to ven tila. te their pr1 va te Yiewa about the State Govemaent wh1 cb is run by the Congresa .•'

1. The Camp waa held tor three days (Jan. 11•23) • wblob was attended by D.J(. Barooah, Daghunatb Redd1 ( ex-Labollr Klnister), Nand1n1 8atpathy,

·Banta Beba.r1 Das, Binayak A.cbarya, Ohlntamoai Panigrahi (MP) eto.

2. 11ndugtan StanAard, dt4. 18.1.197'· ;. Il»U.

245

Hr. Dv1Yed1, hoveYer, refuted euob obaraea and

obaenecl that bla ac'tiona were meant :tor the beat

interest• of Congress. 1

A&ain, the Coagresa.C.PI alliance also encou.

raged fact1onal1sa in the CoDgresa. The pro-CPI

a ttl tude of Sat, S.tpthy waa attributed to her

CPI back&round ot earlier years.

The cleavages ln Orissa Congress became clear

with the lonark incldent. Furore tn o.L.A. took

place over the preaence of tour Buaaiaa dianttarlea

at Konark Conar••• training oa•P• Another group

in Congress, led by Sailen Nobapatra, Chief-whip

of the o.L.A., raiaed a carapaian againat .Jadunatb

Daa Haha,.tra (the then Hiniater ot· B4ucatlon .and

Cultural Affairs) and the Chief Htn:l.ater for corru­

ption and fa~matism leading to purcbase of book•

worth of aeveral lakba of rupee• fro• a private

1. In a letter to the Chief Minister, he wrotea •On the whole, I think ay eta temen ts are in the beat interests of the Congress and bave stren&thened the atand of 'the Congress •••• I •o not think one ahould get a larae4 unne­oerartly OG toucbin& over such aatters. It will be qntortunaie it the bi&heat office of tbe organtsat10D geta involved tn petty local matters•. B&gdutten §tgndA£A• 4td. 18.1.1975,

tlra and posttngs and transfers of oft1cea in the

education 4epar_taent on ca1te basts. S•t. Satpatby

was also or1 tlc1aed tor beading both the organi sa•

tlonal and legislative wing of the Conaress in

Or1saa. 1

Paotionaliu reached lts oliuaax when B.B.

D&• and aoae others accused Sat. Satpathy openly

tor fa111n& to ensure collective reaponelbility to

the Cabi'net by ber constant lnterterenoe over the

bead ot tbe alnistera. Kr. Das 41soloee4 that be

had written to the Priae Minister on A~rll 27, 1975,

expresain& hia u.ubappiness over the functlonlna of

party and govemaent in the State. He also lnfonaed

of his intention ot reai&nina troa the party.

Sat. &atpathy, accepted the resl&nation of

Daa when the latter refused to lasue a stateMent as

desired by her •to dispel the iapreaalon ot die­

cord w1 thin the goverrwent ascidtously proaoted by

certain elements.•2

1. Hr. Das wbo was a aealter of her Cabinet .. aad ex-PSP man, was opposed to S.tpathy aa the PCC President tn violation ot the one-•an­one-post convention supposed to be followed by the party.

2. fht f1•!! of India, dtd. 25tb May, 1975.

9A~ ,.~ 'i: f

!his action of the Chlet Minister was conde­

mned as •undesirable, arbitrary and unfortunate"'

and it led to political instability in the State,9

The Coagress W.gh Command, however, did not

want to r.-ove Satpathy from either of the poste.

In Jlllle, 19751 a resolLttion was passed in the

PCC eupportlag Satpathy to lead both organiaattonal

as well as legislative leadership.' In the mean­

while, because of defection• from otber parties,

the Congress strength increased to _83/147.

Hr. P.K. Bal, a member of the Executive Colllli• ttee of the PCC, coamented that the Chief. Minister'• action had aa4e the State polit1oa aore f1ul4 than the party could have provided at such a Juncture. fb.us, be was expelled trom the party for a period of 6 years on the charge of anti-party a ott Vi tt es. D&eu of PolltigQl .sv;nts, Vol. II, No, :tO, (october, t97s), P• t • Hr. Trilochan Jta.nungo co11101ented tba t, "••••• by asking Mr. Daa to resign, Mrs. Sa tpa thy waa driven by persona 1 whims an4 animosity tban by reasoning of political and adlliotstratlve ·necessity. • !oa&an l!ertt'• dtd. 26 May, t975. l11tdu!'k!D. Tl•!!h Atd. 27 May, i97S. Diary ot Poll tical EYeDts, Vol.ll, !lo. 8, (Auguei, 1975).

'·

248

.~,r&!D9• ot New Faction Under ibe Leadereh1p qf

11DADII: 49Mrzt1

Soon a new faction, led 'Y Binayak Acbarya.

emerged inside Conareas. He sought Indira Gandhi's

intervention in Orlsaa politics on certain apectfic

lsauea. 1 Mattera caae to a bead when Sat. kdlpaiby

reshuffled her atnlatry without the prio'r approval

of ber colleagues. The Acharya faction took up thla

laaue as a "•atter ot huatllatton" to the aeabers

of the Cabinet. They also obaerred· that the Chief

Hlniater bad by ber action, launched a "policy of

confrontation witb Central leadership" without takina

prior approval of the Prlae Minister and the Bi&b

1. . fhe 1sauea were, 1) The YuTa Chhatra Sanara• Saatti and tbe Nati­

onal Soctallat Corps bad began to 1Unctlon aa organieattonal parallel to tbe Youth Congreas;

li) the Chief Hlniater•a Barlpada speech wbicb led to the resignation ot the Aartoultare Minister, Mr. Lax-an Mullick, caustna obstruction to the cleYelopaen tal work at a Uuae when Oris sa waa suffering froa the effects of a eevere drought.

111) The Chief Minister had lost confidence oD her oolleaaues which needs the 11111lediate attention ot the Prime Minister.

249

Colllll8.nd.1 Tbls faction demanded for the immediate

intervention of the Prime H1n1ater in Orissa Affa-

1r•.1 The Yoagh Conaress alsp made demands on

simlar around·'

Satpathy, 1n the aean wbile dented any coer­

cion cbar&es against the colleagues and any signature

campaign initiated by ber to counteract the Aobarya

taction.' Aobarya along w1 tb ei&h'& members ot tbe

a.

,. ....

Xn a letter to the P~ime Minister, they observed, •Wboaoever supports this action directly or

indirectly, is a party to the confrontation with the Central leadership ••••• We hope the Congress Co~ttee will be conscious of this game of Mrs. Satpatby and wlll not tall a prey to this moYe•. "Indtag Bxprtts, dtd. 6th December, 1976. The Unl.on Minister for Defence, Hr. J .a. PatDa1kt told the Governor of Orissa, Mr. S.N. Sbarta that the cons~ensue amorag the Congress HLA.s, MPs and AICC me.Jbers from Orissa was that tbe or1sia in Orissa cannot be solved unless the Prime Minister intervenes. tndif!D fXRJ:!S!h dtd. 6th. December, 1976.

&eae v ews were expresaed after SanJay Gandhi's Yisit to the State in December, 1976 • The Chiet Minister, denied in a press statement that there bad been any "forcible collection" ot e1gnatures trom legtslatores at tbe State dinner at her residence. "I gathered to-day that a report is being p11blisbed tba.t at a dinaer yesterday at my residence, eignaturea were collected under co­ercion. I am sure that this denial ot mine will be published, but I :feel it is my duty to say tba t this is a m1 schi evtoua 11 e. A nuaber o:f HLA a including some members ot the Parliament and so•• press rerresentat1Yes were present. There was DO anti-soc al elements in my premises and there wa•

contd •••••

Qa))inet and twel'Ye K14a met the Governor and !ntor­

med btm that Smt. Sa tpa thy bad lo at 'tile maJ orl ty

support of 87 members tn the CLP. They claimed the

support of '7 Congress legislators.tnin Orissa,

signature campaign bad been resorted to ott and

on, since 1951, resulting in 'toppling ot mtnieU&'ea.

But this time, it suggested a clear vertical division

in the ~ling party on the leadership issue.

The Centre finally brougb t an end to the

Orissa crl s1 s by imposing President• s Rule ln the

State on December 16, 1976. Smt. Satpatby resigned

trom the Ottt ce. t

P.R.

i.

troa previous page contd ••• coercion whQ. tsoYer. It stories sach as this are allowed to be oirc~lated, it is obvious tbat trath bas boen a casualty. Any one from anywhere in the country who hopes tbat such utter false­hood will not lae allowed in tbls country•. 1D4&BD .I!RE•II• 4t4. 11th Deoeaber, 1976. In ber letter of resignation to the Governor! abe sa141 •I am hereby resigning from ottloe ana I will be autded entirely by the Priae Hinlater, the Conaress High C Olllland and the opinion of ay party colleague• in _, fature coarse of action. 1 am anxious that there shoald be cobeslve and basinese - like sovernaent so that the drouabt atriken people of Orissa are given meantnatul relief instead of acr1mon1oae vertriage". r·rx I' Polj tical l!'ji•· Vol. III t No. ta. · Deoem er, 1 76), PP• •

•

The Aaseably was kept under anlaated IGIPeD•

sloa. 1 Acbarya waa appointed aa the next Chief

Hlniater. When the Janta Party toraed the aovem­

a~~tt at the Centre in 1977, the political developaent

1D the Congreaa-led proYtncea took a different turn.

Cracka in Orlasa Congress caae to the surface

after the Lok Sabha poll in 1977. A dissident croup

aade Acharya responsible for the election defeat

and wanted to dislodce bta troa power. Hr. Gan&adbar

Hahapatra, a senior Conareas leader and a1n1ater in

the Satpat~'a Cabinet held Acharya responsible for

the creation of an at.oapbere ot uncertainty tn the

State. Be said that lt waa Aobar,ya and bla asaocia­

tea who had taucht Conareasaen how to destabilise a

Concress coYernaent, and bad aaooeaaf~lly done so to

41slod&e the Satpatby atntatry. Tbie &roup ahould

1. A.R. Antulay, General Secretary, Juatitted on Dec•ber 29th 1 tbe Central tnte"ention la Orissa resulting in a cban&e ot State leader­ship. Be said Mra. Satpathy bad becoae a faction leader because of tnfi&httnc in the party. Developaent activities.had eo•e to a standstill and per1ecutioa and blgb-baDded• ness had been resorted to. In 1Uch a ai ttl&• tlon, the Prtae Minister, who was an•wera•l• to the people, had to intervene. He asserted that a State leader wa• elected because ot the backin& of the ceatral leaderehlp, irres­pective ot the support he or she enJoyed in the state. Tiaes of India, dtd. 31st Dec .. ber. 1977.

252

b• tau&ht a lesson. Be also said that his ala waa

to brin& unl ty inside Conaress and to .fi&ht the

reactionary el .. ents. Tbe ex-PSP eleaeats in the

Congress alao blaaecl Kra. Gandhi .for Congress delH&cle

throughout the oountey.

Thus, a oare.ftal atudy ahowa tile •ant tude

of tact1onal1a• in the Congreaa to Orlsaa. F.aotiona­

llam ia aanitested aa a struggle .for power both in

tbe legielativ~ and oraanisational win&a of the

party. 'l'he parllaaentary wing of the me was weak

aa co•pared to its oraanisational wine, durin& the

pre-independence days. But, in the post-independence

years, a di.fterent pattern eaer&ed when Nehrll and

other proainent leaders occupied the top level leader­

ship in the le&islative win&•• Thus, the organisa­

tional wing was left in the obar&e of second rate

l•a4ers. Ibis is also true in case of Orissa. In

the pre-independence days, the UPCC waa atronaer in

comparison to the lea isla ti ve w1 na of 'the party. In

the post-t91t7 years, as we baYe seen, factionall•

centred around the split between tbe organisational

and representative wing of the party.

mouovor0 tho prob!oa of o cor61ol rolat1on­

ob1Q. bott1ccm tb·o oranntsational and par11aoontary

t1ina of a party to ot groo.t rolovanco. Socetloos

this to not so acmto otnco tbe principal leaao~o bold

botb tho pootttono in tho party.! Dooocrotio fonct­

tonina o~ party oyot~ roqulroo that parllacontary

roprocentativoo ohould taka procodonco ovor pnrty

loodoro and o~boro ot tbo oloctroroto conotituto a

largo aroup then party oocboro ttllo e.E"o a;,roovor

lncludod tn 1t.2

2hno, oovornl concluoiono can bo nrr!vod ats

1) ~ooh party oraontoationo ofton rosult !D

otrong factional!~ tithin tho political

party.

a) Conaroso porfortnnoo boo boon boot !n Oriooa

t1ben factional conflict inoido the party to

looo. 2hlo tlO.O true of Con~ooo in Or1ooa

in 1961 and aloo !n 1980.

1. i'b!o to Q)ro rolovnnt in cooo ot tho Conarooo loadoro a.t tbo Control lovol. trbcn Nobru ljQO

tho Pr!co ilinloter, ho tta.o also tho Proo14ont of tho On-aa.nioot1on. In Or1ooo, Sot. IlaDtU.ni satpatay baa bola toaotbor oioultanoouoly both tho poo1t1ono aeuina tho ocoraoncy. iaic haa la.tor led to oorioao political crlo1e in tl1o Stnto. In otllor co.ooo, t!lo Clllof 11in1oto:rro bad boen Prooidonto of tho PCCo not oi LJul tanoouoly but at a difforont tico.

2. t~urico Duvoraor, gp~cit., p. 182.

254

l) Pacttoaal:lsa at U••• strenatllena a political

party aa :ln the ••• of the Coqreaa party

ill RaJatban. In Oriaaa, facttonalt• ia the

Conar••• has en oourqed Oppoal tton parti•••

de tee tiona and political ucertalnty in the

. State.

•> ractional:l .. baa giYen little opportunltiea

to Congreas leadera to &ive a whole-bearted

attention to the probl•• of the State.

Interest of tbe people baa been first caaoa­

lity of party dissidence. Group and re&ion­

al eonalderationa outvei&h$ the interest of

the· State a a a wbo le.

5) factionali .. baa led to a:l&eable defections

fro• the Conareaa. lfhe JC and UC parti ea

are exaaplea of auch defection• resultin&

out of tactionalt• vi thin t.he party.

fbua, the parties verat affected in tllia

dirty play of "defection" and "llorae-trad1nc• are

thoae which bad followed an •opeu.Jsoor policy" tor

adlliaaion ot meabera without caring for any eo-lt­

aen t to any PJ'OI ra-e on the part of ita ••••era.

Parties with a procraa•e• 41ac1pl1ne and inner

aococracy can taco tho cbollonao of 4ofoct1on ouch

'coro tbnm pertloo ~1thout any progrncoo of coooit-

oomt.

iho further concl~o1ono con bo aortvod nta-

a) Dofoction politico 1n Or1ooa le concontrato4

to tho notddlon of tho ldoologtcal apoctruo. Tbo

Cooountot Part1eo on tbo loft uoro not -aerioaoly

offoctoa in tho dofoctlon aaco. Tho rtahtiot par­

ti.oo lUto daD Sangh is aboont ln Or1ooa. Bat,

Suantantra 1a equally a prtnor 1n tllo gaco oil

"poll tical baraainlna n. Th! o rovoalo tltl t thoro 1 o

both d1o1ntoarnt!on and ro-al18noont of tbo political

contra, i.o. bot~oon Con6rooooon and on•Conarossmon

in Orioon. iho PSP 0 tbo SSP, tho JC 0 tho UC all

liavo tholr rocont roo to 1n tho Conaroso. Uany tn ..

dopondonto too 1:1oro en-Congrosooon dordoci pavty

ticltoto.

b) Vurtbor, thio ntntrn-party dlvlolveneoa""

nloooonoGon and ntlu141tyn hao directly attooted

party discipline. Loynl1ty to pnrty 1o $ooondar.y

to "personal gain and nchiovoC3ntn of a party coabor.

o) Partloo nro costly oraan1ood on tho basis of

poroonnl1 ty of diftors t leadore. Bvon top loac1oro

., ~· ...... A

of 'the Conar••• have paid scant naard to party

loyallty. !bia 11 equally true of Opposition

partiesr1D Orissa.

!be CODgress Chief Ministers like Kab'tab,

Patna111: 1 Mitra, Routray and Satpa'tby are all

de.tectora. 1 fhts ideological dishonesty aaona tbe

Conaress leaders is partly responsible tor politi­

cal instab111 ty in the State.

1. An idea about the change ot party atttlia• tloD of Congress Cbl.ef Ministers oan be ha4 froa the followings Raae of Chief Minister •~e/laaes of Parties

1. Dlswanath Daa 2. Bare Krishna Nabtab

which they haYe Joined '!lt• tiae to ttae _ Congress, Independent Congress, Jan Congress, Concreaa, Swadhtn Cong-ress, Pragati Party, JS.L.D.

';; ~

3. BiJu Pa tna1k Conaresa, Utkal Congress, Praaati Party, B.L.D., Janta

(He bad tried to retura to Goner•••• but was retuaed membership hy tbe Conareaa Blah co-and).

Ia. Biren Kt tra

5. Sadasih frlpa 'tb1 6. Nandinl Satpathy

1. Dinayak Acharya s. IU.loaant Routray

C.P.I., Concreas, Utkal Coacreas, B.L.D. !fo detection c .P .I., Congress, c .F .D., Janta, Conaresa-U. Concress-a, Congress-D. Conaress, Utkal Congress, B.L.D., Janta.,.

257

Sectloa F_; Corruetlou, L-.dershle and ParR I

PerforJIB.DCfl

"" .

Corruption ln India is a aaJor 1uatrwa•t to

displace leadership ln the party aystea. 1 The work­

ing of party B.Yat.• in Or1sa ehowa that corruption

bas played an iaportant. role iu the politics of the

State. Writing on corruption in India, N.C. C~oudhury

obaerYea

• ••••• in recent decades the coaaon people of India have seen people acquiring i••ense fortUDe 1ty coin& into poll tic a. 'I bey could not Just believe that politics la not a •ore efficient and leas laborious and risky •eans of aaldn& aoney tban even the black aarke-&•.2·

Keudu leaf scandals are nothing new in

Orissa politics and alaoat every Chlet Minister of

the State baa attracted to hiaaelf the lJ&r&aln ot

t. Corruption cbaqea baa been levelled against Kat ron of PunJab, Bu.xl Ghulaa MoU.raed of Kaahalr and others in different provinces. There are also instances that corruption em rae• baa Rot been levelled against leactera who bad strong party support. For exa11ple, no corruption char&•• were levelled against Nehru and eYa B.C. Roy of West Bengal. B11t, political corruption baa becoae a part ot factional poll ~los in the vartoaa States and haa been 11sed to displace the doainant taction within t.he mliD& party.

2. N.c. Cholldhur,y, •corraption in Indian Politics•, The Binduatan Y1•ea, dtd. Hay 5, 1968.

ot eta notorious leaf wtch is uaed to roll

'b1d1a. 1 5atarally enoqb the Ken4a leaf scandala

baYe proVided steady eaployaent to various Co•Jd­

salons of Inqai17 starting w1 th the Khanna Coalll­

saion, the Hadholkar Coamtsaton, the S&rjoo Prasad

Coamisalon and the Hitter Coaatsaion. The era of

Coaml salona bepn soon after the 1967 elections.

- .

In tact, the 1967 election waa fougb.t on corruption

issues in Orissa.

Corruption charges against the top leader•

started with the CBI.report of 1964 wbicb created

a atora in the Parl1AIIent. This waa followed by

1. Kendu leaf grows •alnly in Ortsaa and the the sale of Kendu leaves is one of the aaJor aource ot revenue to the State. It has alBO played a &1antf1cant role ln the politlca of the State. In 193,, N.K. Cboudbury, the then Chief JUniater .. ot the State, openly ad•ttted that tbe traders in Kendu leaf contrl-uted to 12 to 13 lakba of rupee a every year to the Concr•••. Kahtab, wbo aucoeedod Choudhury aa the Chief Minister, was also deeply involved with the politics of Kenda leaf. Cbou4bUr,y vrote1 . •!be Kendu leat .. rcbanta are oats14ers. It bas so bappened tbat these aercha.n:te b&Ye virtually taken posaession of tbe Conare•• organisation 1• ~y areaa and by tilts eeana, tbey have upsarged political power to a areat extent•.

t~e Khanna Coamission in 1967.1 the Commission

took two years to subait its report to the GoYera­

aent (January IS, 1969). It, however, found that

neither Pataaik, nor Mitra were guilty of any

iapropriet7• In effect, the Commission pointed oat

the econolllic achievements 11ade by the Pataatk ad•1-

n1strat1on. It reported that the per-capita 1nc .. e

in Orissa increased fro• a.. 25,.99 ·1Jl 1960.61 to

Is. 290.78 in 1963-6'' while tbe net reYenae of

the State v.ut up troa b. ,9.,2 orores to b. 1'·91

crorea during the saae period.

1. !Jle Khanna Coaaiaaion waa set ap by a.N. Singbdeo under the Coii1Diission of InqU.ry Act ot 1962 with Justice B.a. Khanna as the Chairman. Writs were filed in Orissa Bi&h Court praying to restrain tbe co .. taslon to Undertake any inquiry against political leaders. Bat the writs were reJected b.Y tbe Court. Accordingly, the GoYernaent Noti~lca• tion of October 1% 1 1967 and a subsequent a•end•ent of Decewber 1'tb bad named t5 ainiatera and Deputy Ministers, including three Cbiet K1nisters1 who held Office durin& the period fro• i961-b7, as accused and listed 70 char&•• aaainat th•• 'l'be Cbiet Hiniaters were B1Ju Patna1k, Btren Mitra and Sadaaib !rlpatbi, tbe Hin1aters were Niloaanl Boutray. BrundabaD Hayak and T. Sanganna, the Deputy Ntaisters were Prahallad Mallick, Santoah Jtwaar Sahoo, Anup Slap Deo, Cbltta­ranJan Balk and Chandra Hoban Slagb.

260

the Report read -

•Patnaik.did a commendable Job in certain spheres by introducing an element of d,ynaml­am in the administration and the work he did by translating the idea of a port at Pradip into a living reality is bound to ~ke an impact on the history of Orissa and its future development. Th• irony, however, is tbat Patnaik allowed such a sway to the percuniary and business interest of the the companies, ~icb bad been started by him and with which Ids family members were associated, in dealings with the State government, tbat within two or three years of his stewardship, his public image became tarnished and tbe hopes which were built uound him, were shattered to pieces. Memorials and representations, some of them not vltbout substance, were submitted against blm, the architect of the party's victory la 196i lost even bia own election in i967. the fall of Patnaik was not merely a loss for himself, it w&s a shock and dissenchant­ment for the people who bad pinned tbelr hopes and reposed their confic!ence in bill and with that bad linked the future of Orisaa•.i

fbe Government referred the matter to the

pollee for taking •necessary actions• against tbe

Ministers vbo were held guilty bY the Commission.

The pollee carried on its investigation aml sabmi•

tted its report finally towards the later part of

1971. when the UC-Swatantra-Jbarkhand Coalition was

ln power. But no actions were taken against Patnaik.

1. Santt Ghosh. Orissa in Turmoil, Oe.ott., P• 175.

261

As a consequence the entire char&•• of corruption

against the .tniatera were dropped.

The Second Commission of Inquiry in Orissa

vas the SarJoo Pra•d Coalliaaion. 1 Vi th decision

of the Orissa Govemaent to appoint another Co11J11-

asion of Inquiry to probe charges ot corrup~1on

acainst such ~n1stera who were in power between

1961-67, Justice Nudbolkar was ap~ointed to carry

on tbe 1DYeat1gation, although he bad no le&al

sanction for it. Accordingly, he aade priTate

inquir.lea on and submitted its Report on Septeaber

26, 1968, and aftised bia ai&nature aa tbe

"Special Jude•"• The Swatantra-Jan Congress

governaeat dedanded tor tbe publication ot the

Report and ita presentation before the O.L.A.

Singh Deo bad wanted to take action aaainat the

Report, bat the Jan Congress partner did not aaree

to it.2 Pinally, the Report waa placed before

1. In June 26, 1967, Shri Sadaaib Tr1patbi and 21t KLAa of O.L.A. auba11tted a ••orandlllt to the President aakin& 26 alle&ationa of corru­ptions a&ainat Ministers who had bean in office since 191t7. The proaiuont aaon& thea were Hahtab, Sinah Deo, Choudhury,. SUrendra Hath Patnaik, Santanu Xuaar Daa and other.

2. Mahtab va• the leader of the Jan Congress then and waa tnvo1Ye4 tn tbe Mudholkar aeport.

\

! •

tho O.L.A. in 1970 and bocaoo n onjor inotrumont

tor tho Collapoo of tho coalition aovornooat.

0D January 6, 1971, tho S~atantrn PGrty

decided to appoint a Cocaiooion of Inquiry to bo

hoadod by SarJoo Praoad, a rot1ro4 Cbiot Jmotico

of Bajaotban and Aooac B16h Courts. ibo govom­

oent go.vo legal sanction to tho SarJoo Prasad

Coemtooion, ~bleb mndo inqatrioo into tbe corrup­

tion cbargoo againot cintotoro olnco 1ndopendenco.

In its Revort, tho Cooa1os1on ononoratod all

oncept Habtab in roopect of tour ellogations, 1.o.,

arant of Remtooion to Rondu Loaf contractoro, ar~t

ot Chromtto loaoo to SornJJaudtn, rapid aoqulo1t1on

ot tJeal til by Uabtab and ~1 thdraul of crlolnnl

prooocution againot iron and stool doalors ot

Cut tack.

The Report t!a.S co.do public on Uay 25 1 19791

but the coalition siniotry endod in Juno 1972.

'l'b! o t:tao replaced by a Congress govornoent under

tho loadorsb1p of Set. Satpatby. In the ceac~bilo,

tlabtab had detected to Congress froa JC. Au a

result, no action vno taton agcinat b1m. But. vhoD

ho dofectod again froa Coagroso ln 1973 to fore

~.,. -l 'j"'~ .·f" "

263

•swadbin Congress•, the .. tter vas referred to

the CBI. However, insplte of these deYelopaents,

Kabtab won tbe election in 197' to the O.L.A.

thus, Habtab waa found cutlty by both the

Mudllolkar and the 8arJoo Prasad Coa1:111sslon. The

Coaaission wrotea

•The fact that a -.. of the ability and oallbre of Shr1 Kahtab, who waa beld hl&b offices and rendered aany valuable aerYicea to the State ahoald be to und aullty of accepting llle&al &ratification in order to show faYoar to the Iendu leaf contra­ctors Wllliatakably indicates that there is eo•• serious aalalae in the body polltlca and the political systea under which are one llTina. Shr1 Hahtab baa, of course, been exposed. Bu.t there uy be aany 110re on high places who bave sll1't1 olen tly enri­ched theaselves and are still enJoitng their post tions of power and authority".

Soon afterwards, Sat. Satpatby set up the

Hitter Commission to probe •tba Shady Kendu Leaf '

deals• of 1970 an4 1971. Hr. Sin&h Deo oOIUlented

that the proposed Co-isaion shoald •brace •shady

Kendu leaf deal of S•t. Satpatby' • ainisters too".

The Hitter Co~~~tission held Sinp Deo, D.P. Haba­

patra and A. Sahoo {both ~ore•t •1n1•t•rs in 1970

and 1971 respectively} &uilty of cbar&ea o1

1. Sunl t Ghosh, Ortaaa in Tarqll, Op.olt., p .177.

corruption and acts of mlsdeaeanour for wblob

the State lad to incur a loss in the revenue to

the tune of Rs. 60 lakha in two years.

In its Report, the Comc1ss1on stated tbat

•There can be no doubt tba t tb e action of H.P. Hobapatra and a.N. Singh Deo ln order to grant rebate in purchase price to tbe purchaser and waivers of shortfall compen­sation to aaents and reduc~on in tbe figure of bags stipulated for, were un­lawful and improper. fbe deal resulted in a loss to the tanr of Rs. laO lakbs to the State exchequer.•

HOwever, tbe Co~ission of Inquiry in

Orissa baYe been of ltttlo value. No actions baYe

been taken against those who bAve proTed ~1lty.

Instead political corruption continues to ba a

aajor factor for political uncertainty in tbe

State.2

Shrl N .£. Choudhury, analysing tbe root

cause of political corruption and financial dis­

honesty among the ••bers of various political

parties observed that the election law provtdina

1. Sun1t Ghosh, PPtClt., P• sst. 2. 01 course• the Kendu leaf trade was nati­

onalised by the satpathy lllinistry in 1974, thereby bringing an end to the scandalous Kendu loaf politics involving senior Congress and Opposition party leaders ln tbe State.

n

(.

for expense ceiling of~. 7,500 per candida••

in an Assembly Constituency was the main cause ot

corrupt1on. 1 Be bad raised this issae tn i9'5

before Nehru, B.C. Boy, HorarJi Desai and other

senior Congress leaders, bat was rebutted as

"cbildi sb and silly". In order to win the elections,

huge aaouots are collected from big mine owners and

businessmen tor which no detailed accounts are

kept. Thus, the person ~o collects such DODef on

bebalt ot the party makes money tor hiraself atter

giving some portion to the candidate and the party.

1.

2.

Choudhury wrote tha t1

"As the businessmen baYe to pay taxes, they do not sbov these amoUJlts in the actual account book wl(iob they show to the Income fax Department. They keep note ot these amounts in tbeir personal note books. !be whole tbinga is done on trust like the affairs of big "Hatha" (temple). This pattern is followed in every state in In4la"~

Choudhury observed tba t "if a Congress candi­date is ov~osed by a rich or influential person, he has to . spend more aoney. But where frora will so auoh money come? •• At such tlaea a bigger 81Dount baa to be spent and the aotual expe.od1 tiU'e ls kept lD a aepara te account book wb1le the accoUDt w1tblD the allowed limit ts kept 1D anotber book a.

Government of orissa (Dome Deptt.), f•e{rt ot ~he.O~lssa Iaquirr Commission, 1211- 2 Bbuba­neswar, 1§72), pp. 12,-125.

2.66

~hta proves 'the inside atory ot party

fi.nancea of the Conareaa. They lead to tiaanolal

dishonesty aaon& the part,y ae•bers. BoveYer, these

Coaalaaions ot Inquiry did not end w1 th the nation­

alisation ot kendu leaf trade. lfhe next victiJI wae

obYlously Sat. Satpa'thy. On Sept. 6, 1977, tn

siaul taneous raids in d11ter811t place a ot Oris a

and Hadraa, aen ot the Orisaa GoYernaet•s Vigilance

Depart•ent searched the reaidence ot Sat. Satpathy,

ber taally ••~bers and close aasooiatee. The find·

inga inclu.ded a rea1atered aale deed in respect of

a flat coating as. 1,05,000 and an accollllt book with

a credit balance of b. 32,l2' in a Ma4rae branch

ot a foreign baDk. Both the sale deed and the

acco&m t book were seized tro• tbe Madra a residence

ot Hachiketa Satpatby, eleder son o:t S•t. Satpathy.

Sat. Satpatby waa aranted anticipatory bail

by S.N. Miab%8, District and Session Judge, Cuttack

in the two caaea realstered against ber, on the'

oharae that abe bad acquired assets diaproportionate

to her knowa aourcea ot lncoae. She was arrested

wltbln alnatea after ber return from a tour abroad

in Sept. 17, 1977 and also releaaed on bail lnatantly.

Sbe claiaed that abe bad been Yiotta of tbe

•poll ti ce of terror, built ty and cbaracter as A•

sination•.t

!be Orisaa Cabinet appointed BaJ Xi shore Daa,

a retired Judge ot Orissa High Court aa an •inquir­

ing authority• to go into certain cbaraes aaalnat

Sat. satpathy. 2 It later accepted the Report of

Das and ordered the police to take •apprograte

follow-up action• on the Report.'

thus, corruption bas beooae a aaJor tnatru.

ment in Orissa to displace a doatnant faction inside

t. fiaea o§, India, dtd. 7.9.77, tlf.9.77J;8.9.71·; t5.9.19 ,, . fiae! of India, dt4. 2.6.77. According to the Chief Htnlater Nllou.nt aoutrary, tlle fo arcoasea on which Dae .bad aub­attted the report tncludeda a) financial loss caused to the Orissa Govern­aent by Sat. Satpatby bf giYin& lease to forest areas for collection of Sal seeds to a pr1Yate ttra. b) Undue favour ~own to a tyre-trading fir• (a son of Sat. Satpa'&lay was allegedly conne­cted with the se firaa) • o) Proaotion ot tonaer KxecutiYe Engineer •·f the Public Health Bnatneering Departaen t to ~he rank of Superintendent Bn&ineer, and d) Appointaent of a person aa the KanagiD& Director of a State owned Corporation. fiaet ot India, dtd. 11.9.1977.

288

the Congress. A~ost all Cblet Htntatera of the

State like Hahtab, Patnalk, Mitra, !rtpathy, Sin&b

Deo, Choudhury, Satpa.thT and other pro•inent leaders

laaYe been vtottms of the co-isaiona ot Inquiry aet

up troa time to time by the Orissa goYe~nt.

. Political corruption leaclina to financial

41 shone sty aDd adl!linlatrati ve !•propriety have 'beeu

one ot the maJor cauaea ot political inatab111ty

ln the State. It has also resulted in 1nstab111t,y

in the party system itself.

§eotipD .Il:, The Bole of the Central Leaderah1»

an4 the Conareaa in Oria .. a

An analysis of the Congresa oan never be ooaplete wl thout re:terin& to the role ot the central

leadership in aouldiD& the politics of the State. 1

1. The Conareaa party had ruled at the Centre ui.nterruptedly tor JO lona years. fill t967, the Party bad the previle&e ot ralltn1 aiMlultaneously in tbe province• aa well aa at the national level. But thia pattern underwent a cbange after the General Klection of 1967, when the aertea of non-Congress coalittona were eatabltahed in Yarioua pro­vince• ot India. Tbls, however, did not. lessen tactionallsa ln the Congress. The "tall lea.derahtp" ot tile Congress en4e4 att·er the death ot Nehru and the poat-67 period was characterized b.Y aroup detec,tona, tactionall• and split in tbe Conareas ParQ'.

269

The involveme t of the Cen'h"al leadership

in aaking and unllal&:ing tbe goverDJienta in the

provinces baa become a definite pattem ln India.

As we bave seen in tbe previous section,

•At the States, individuals wllo bad risen to power in tile Congress organisation soae.tillea constituted the chief opposition to the goverDBent, provided an alternative leader­abip, exercised controls and preaaures on 1 t and in many ins tan eel overthrew it froa power and replaced it.•

In Orissa• the replacement of Habtab troa

Congress and Patnatk•a a•oendency to power in tbe

i960s serves as an exaaple to the above quotation.

Choudhury was appointed as the Chief Minister 1D

1952 because Mahtab was not acceptable to Nehrll.

Hahtab was sent to Bombay as Govemor, vbiob waa

alaoat like a polttioal exile for him. The Conareea

Chief Ministers 1D Orisaa baYe alwaya been aoceptable

to the Congress 111gb CoLlllalld. In 1957, Nab tab

returned to Orissa politios, because there wae a

crtaia of' leadership in the State. Cbou.dhury re:fu. ..

sed to take part in active poll tics and other lead­

ers like B1awanatb Das, Nityanand Kanuago eto.

1. BaJni Kothari, "Congress Syate.Dl 1D India •, in RaJni £0tbari, ed. Party Systems and Blection Studies, Qp.cit 1 , P• i.

270

were not aut table accordiDC to tile Central Bt&b

C.,_and to lead the Concreas in Orisaa. !baa,

Habtab was the ob'Yioaa choice.

When ~~tnatk entered active politics, be

was given the responaib111iy lly the Central lead­

era to organise the Congress and steer it tbroU&b

aid-te.na elections of 1961. Be aade exi~t troa ·

power with the KamraJ Plan, but his aaccessors

Mitra and Tripatbt, were appointed aa Chief Mini­

sters. BoweTer, he lost the confidence ot the

Congress Bi&h Co•aand and was expelled troa the

Congress and toraed the Utkal Conar•••.

The appo1ntaent ot Smt. Satpatby as Orissa••

Chief Minister in 197' apeaks tor the role ot Central

leadership in aaking and unaakin& of sovern.ents

111 Ortasa. With the exi~t of Kahtab, Patnalk and

aeveral other proainent leaders troa Orissa Congress

there was crista of leadersbip ln the party. !bus,

S•t. Satpatby wbo was then the State Minister of

Iator~~atlon and Broadcasting at the c111tre, vas

sent to Orissa to head tbe party in the le&1elature.

However, Sat. Batpathy was relieved trOll

Chief Ministership because ot her "confrontation

with the Pr~• Miniater• and also beca~se of the

0 oab1not crto1o0 • ~ho appo!ntcont of tlr. J.D.

Patnoih ao tho Chief Hin!ster of Orioao, after

Juno oloctlona in t980, to alao a caoo tn point.

iboreforo 0 uhenovor tboro Dao boon a leed•

orabip eriois in the Ortooa Congrooe, it hac boon

oo lvoa by tho iatorvcmtion of the Conarooo Blah

OoomeDd and tb.o roan ttho bencto the Conaroos io

undombtodly tho ono \Qo 1 o accogtablo to tho

Congroso Bigh Comoand.

Smolng Uac

2b~o, in tho proviouo oect1ono ue bavo

dloouoood tho Conaroso in Or!soa. And it ulll not

bo incorrect to say that the Congrooo is undoubtedly

tho coot !oportant party 1n tho pro•lDdopondenco

no uoll ao the poot-!ndovondonco period. Xt baa

tho opportunity to bo !n potior for tbo lonaoot

poriod of tloe.i ibuo, it io clear tbot tbo

ConarosG hao boon in po~or for 19 yearo out of as

yearo ( :troo 1952·ll900).

a. 2ho Conarooo uao in po~or froo 1952-1957; 1957-1959; 1959-!961 (CongJZ"ooc-lod Coalj],tton); 1961-1967; 1973-1~7~1 197~·1977. It bno OSO.!D boon olootod to p01:10r OiDCO 1980.

..

Of-'>(2· ~ ,- .

1. the Conar••• baa always been ceased with

the probl .. ot leaderabip. Since independence,

three 1aportan t Conareaa leaders baTe doalnated

the political acene in Ortaaa. at different tt .. a.

they are, Kabtab, Patuaik and Sat. Satpatby. Bow•

eYer, none ot them baTe adhered to Congress in

Orlaaa. fbey are defec'tora an4 ba.Ye detected troa

the Congress aot on ideological aroands, bu.t beca•

uee ot peraonal reasons. Both Habtab and Patnalk

baTe tried to return to the Congrees, •u.t they

were not granted the •eabersblp by the Congreea

Bl&h Comaand and UPCC. The politics of instability

in tbe State le partly an outcoae of the leaderabip

conflict in the Conar•••·

· 3. With the e.x1 ~ o t leaders like Mahta b,

Patnaik, Satpatby and others, there baa been the

eaergence of new leadership in the party.

'· Corruption bas been a aajor issue with

Congress leader a and the praot1 ce of establi shin&

Znqulrin& Coaaisaiona to destabiliae the goYern­

aent haa beooae qu.l te couuaon in Or1eaa.

'· Inspi te ot 1 ta aany ahortcoainga, the Con&­

reaa bas been able to iapleaent Yarioua soclo-eco­

noato •eaaurea in the province. The Or1 sea Estates

2.

.,. :> . n""·3 ...... . . Aboltt10D Act ot 1952 and the Oriel& Land aetoraa

Aot ot 1960 were 1be .aJor le&talative acbieYe .. nta

in the post-independence year•· Aa a part of ita

coUlitUient to the ideolou of 80Cialtaa, the

Congreaa 1D Ori su aovea along aliptly to t:be

lett ot the Centre. 'file Coaareas acllieYeaent lie a

1D the field ot the hlatorlc Land htoraa (A.aend­

••t Act) of 197' whtcb caae into operation :froa

October 2, 1973.1 the nat1onaliaat1oD ot Kendu

Leat fradea, tbe iapleaeatatioa ot Yartoua tiYe

i. Vb.der this procratae, each taatly ot ti ve •• bera 1a ent1 tled to own not aore tban iO acres of tirat, 15 acres of aecon4, lO aorea ot tbt:rd aDcl .\5 acre a ·of fourth claaa lands • .It aiaed at abol1sb1D& all eatatee taolucttn& trust estates, and the aurplu.a land were cllatrtbu.ted to the landlesa people.

2. It brouaht an end to the acly politics ia the State. The natlonaltaation was under­taken by the •andlnt Satpatlly' • coverllllent, with a Yiew to ensare increased reYtmue to the •xchequer by eltatnattn, adddl .. en in tbe trade. the goYemaent took up depart­meatal operation of tbe trade ln January 197' as a Joint ven tare vi tb Pores'& Cooperation. As acainst the an'lcipated production of 3.50 lakha quin'-1 durin& 197\, 21t7 1 301t.20 qll1D'&a1a ot proces1ea and pbal le&Yea were produced. By the 411 d ot October 1971t • the Orl ••• Forest cooperatioD bad ao14 70,211.20 qulntala ot proce88ed leaYea and 7~,815 _pbal 'ba&• at a total coat ot •· 1 198,74,,1t2.ti\ paiae.

year plana to bring about a ao alo-econo•to clut.ll&•

in tbe •ooietYJ' several welfare leglalationa like

the Orlaaa Secondary Education Act, Oriaaa H1D1D&

Area• Developaeat Fund Act ( 1958), Ori•• Hater•

nlty Benefit Aot, Orissa Bboodan Act (195J), Ancbal

Sasaaa Act and Orissa Tenant's Relief Act (1955),

Orisaa Shops aDd Co~~Jaeroial Batabllshllen t Acta,

the Orissa Prob1b1t1on Act (1956, etc. baTe been

undertaken by the Congress aovenuaent. It bas also

enacted aeTeral 1aportant legislations for the

weltare of the backward sections of the eoclet.y.

thua, baYing di ecussed the Coqreaa Party

ln Orissa, we now proceed to study the .aln Opposi­

tion parties in Oris-., naaely, the GantaDtra Par1shad 1

the Swatantra, '&.be Jan Congress, the Utka.l Congreas,

the Pragatl Party, the Bbarattya Lok Dal and

finally the Janta Party.