Mahtab son to enter politics

Bhubaneswar, Aug 10(Reporters Today Bureau): The presence of the son of Cuttack Biju Janata Dal MP Bhartruhari Mahtab—Lokranjan Mahtab—at the 75th Foundation Day function of ‘Prajatantra’ and his speech at the function were intriguing. It was strengthen when the Junion Mahtab claimed that he is the bearer of the Prajatantra legacy. It is further strengthened he spoke all these in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Lokranjan’s hint was not clear but analysts attribute a lot of reasons to his presence and speech.
Prajatantra Prachar Samiti, the custodian of leading Odia daily ‘Prajatantra’ invited none other than Amit Shah for the function triggering a lot of speculation at a time when the Cuttack MP is rumoured to have fallen from the grace of Naveen Patnaik in the BJD. The senior Mahtab was also removed by Naveen from the post of Leader of BJD Parliamentary group in the Lok Sabha and replaced by Pinaki Misra. Bhatruhari is known as a strong critic of the BJD government and have not spared it on several occasions before the 2019 General Election giving rise to speculations that he might be denied a ticket for the Lok Sabha.
At such a time the emergence of Lok Ranjan, a banking professional, on the scene is bound to give rise to speculations. Will he or will he not join politics is the question that is being asked now.
2024 is nearly two years away. If for some reason Bhartruhari Mahtab—now maintaining a low profile – decides to withdraw from electoral politics like Tathagata Satapathy—may try to fit his son in politics and in some party which has winning prospects. There are only two options before him—BJD or BJP. If he decides to fix him in BJD, he may go the Pravat Biswal or Pravat Tripathy way—quit electoral politics in favour of his son either in Lok Sabha or Assembly. Lok Sabha may not be easy for the young entrant if BJP decides to repeat former DGP Prakash Mishra who narrowly missed 2019. But in Assembly he will have a better chance being the son of Bhartruhari or grandson of Dr Harekrushna Mahtab—a legacy in Odisha politics.
But the presence of Dharmendra Pradhan at the function and the speculations over Bhartruhari cannot be overlooked. It could be possible that BJP might try to win Mahtab at least for an Assembly seat if it has decided to field Prakash Mishra.
It remains to be seen which side the wind blows and who gains.