Bhubaneswar: While Rourkela is high on hockey fever, the World Cup in Odisha is also witnessing some political permutations and combinations and amid all this is former Union Minister Dilip Ray.
It began with Ray praising Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for the championship. “To see your hometown being host to world cup event is a feeling which can’t be described in words. Thank you Shri Naveen Patnaik ji for making this possible. On behalf of Rourkela and my district Sundargarh, I convey my deepest regards.”
On January 13, he played host to BJD’s organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das, Bhubaneswar (North) MLA Sushant Rout and Dharmasala legislator Pranab Balabantaray, who visited him at his Rourkela residence with an invite for India’s opening match of the Men’s Hockey World at Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium. He later shared a post with him seated at the stadium’s VIP box with BJD ministers and legislators.
There are also reports that the CM had invited Dilip to the match over phone. This has led to speculation that he might return to BJD ahead of the 2024 elections.
On New Year, his close aide and noted social activist Harihar Routray revealed that many Rourkelites had urged Dilip to contest the 2024 Assembly election from Rourkela. Though Dilip has not given a green signal he has not denied it either, he added.
A founding member of BJD, he was expelled from the party in 2002 following differences with Naveen. He later joined BJP and quit the party and resigned as Rourkela MLA in November 2018. He has since then been without any party affiliation.
Political grapevine was agog with murmurs for the first time about the possibility of him being reinducted to the Conch party after a gap of 17 years when he visited Naveen Niwas in May 2019 ahead of the Assembly elections when there was intense lobbying for tickets. While this development proved to be a damp squib, Dilip has since praised the CM on different occasions, sparking speculation about his return to BJD.
The business tycoon and hotelier, who also served in the Centre as Union Minister for coal, steel, parliamentary affairs, animal husbandry and food processing, praised Naveen Patnaik in December 2019, saying he has improved tourism potential through sports while improving temple infrastructure in the state.
“I want to thank Naveen Babu and the state government…they have taken Odisha tourism forward. For the first time, they brought World Hockey here. You open any magazine and now you see an article on Odisha.”
“He (Naveen) is doing another great work by making improvements to Jagannath Temple, Lingaraj Temple and Konark (Sun Temple). No resident of Odisha or lover of Jagannath can forget this (gesture).”
In December 2020, he issued a statement appreciating the CM’s decision to set up the world’s largest hockey stadium in Rourkela.
My statement on the announcement of the establishment of India’s largest Hockey Stadium in Rourkela by Chief Minister @Naveen_Odisha pic.twitter.com/AAXdQ0xT6l
— Dilip ray (@DilipRayOdisha) December 26, 2020
Among the numerous birthday wishes for the CM in 2021 the one that stood out was that of the former Union Minister. “My Best Wishes to Naveen Patnaik Ji on his Birthday. Serving the people of Odisha for the last 22 years, he has ushered in a new era of development for our State,” he tweeted.
Dilip was elected to the Odisha Assembly in 1985 on a Janata Party ticket, barely months after he stepped into public life as Chairman of the Notified Area Council in Rourkela. He was re-elected after five years and made a Minister by Biju Patnaik.
In April 1996, he was elected to Rajya Sabha and two months later inducted into the H D Deve Gowda ministry. He was the Minister of State for Coal in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government three years later as a coalition partner. He was then representing BJD, which was formed after Biju’s death, before being ousted from the party in early 2002.
Dilip’s conviction in the coal block allocation scam seems to have been an obstacle and he might get a clean chit in the case before the 2024 polls to facilitate his return to the regional outfit, source said.
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