By Saroj Mishra
Bhubaneswar: Politicians being politicians they try to make the most of any situation. Current floods in the state have provided a glaring example of this.

With floods ravaging several districts of coastal and northern Odisha, the government's relief machinery got into action. However, with the situation improving slightly, relief operations almost came to a halt with reports suggesting that relief had been stopped because it was not required.

But curiously enough, while official relief distribution took a backseat, the ruling Biju Janata Dal grabbed the opportunity.

Media has widely reported BJD's attempt to reach out to the flood-affected people with pictures of party MP Baijaiyant Panda in a

helicopter appearing in newspapers. Reports suggest that the food packets airdropped by the party carried the party symbol, conch.

The state chief of Nationalist Congress Party, Bijay Mohapatra has alleged that imported food material was airdropped by the party but it was hardly sufficient for the starving people.

Taking a dig at the chief minister and his party, Mohapatra suggested that instead of spending huge money during the elections, Naveen Patnaik and his Rajya Sabha MP friend should provide at least Rs 100 crore for flood relief work which while fetching them good publicity would also be of great help to the marooned people at this juncture. "Let them do it with their party symbol. We will not object because people are crying out for relief."

One is not sure whether the Chief Minister and his men would take the suggestion seriously. But the point is while there is no bar on political parties organising relief and trying to help people, they should not be allowed to use party symbols. In any case they can be allowed to either overshadow or substitute the official machinery.

This is like hijacking the official machinery with the ruling party trying to behave like government itself. The use of party symbol on relief material during such crisis situations is unprecedented in the history of the state. It brings back memories of an episode in a state of the Hindi heartland where the ruling party gave school children bags bearing its own symbols in the name of promoting a government programme.

It is surprising that the BJD which never sought to help people in such situations in the past is now trying to provide them succour in this fashion. If using party symbol on relief packets is not making political capital out of human misery what else is?

One can understand the political compulsions of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who would be leading his party and the coalition into an election next year. This is going to be crucial since this would be his attempt to match former chief minister J.B.Patnaik's record of ruling the state for three terms. In the event of Naveen actually pulling it off he would be bettering JB's record in the sense even he did not win three terms back to back.

But winning a third term, as anyone knows, is a difficult proposition. For one the anti-incumbency factor will come into play and this time it would be difficult for the government to fend off charges of irregularities in some of the key areas. One of the most important areas where irregularities have allegedly been committed is the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). This is a scheme which has a direct bearing on the livelihood of the common folk in the villages who actually queue up at the polling booths.

Questions about implementation of the scheme had been raised by a Delhi-based NGO sometime ago. It came out with startling revelations about officials siphoning off funds and job cards not being maintained properly. It talked of collective and participatory loot of government money. The government was stunned and hired the services of another agency to cross check the NGO's claims. However, the death of a tribal activist, Nayaran Hareka, who was campaigning for transparency in the implementation of NREGS, has raised fresh questions about the execution of the scheme.

Media reports suggest that Hareka was killed in an accident while returning from Narayanpatna town where he had gone to make inquiries about the implementation of NREGS from the local BDO. His family and friends have alleged that he was murdered by the hired goons of NREGS contractors who were scared by his relentless campaign.

There are also many other areas of concern for the government including law and order situation and some scandals involving influential people. The Chief Minister and the government will have to account to for this at the time of elections. One can, under the circumstances, understand Patnaik's anxiety and his eagerness to win popular favour. But stunts such as using party symbol on relief packets is hardly going to help him. In fact, this may prove counter-productive.