Pyari Mohapatra returns, gets ‘Friends’ in BJP and Congress

Rajya Sabha MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra, the erstwhile ‘Chanakya’ of Biju Janata Dal, who was unceremoniously ousted from the party following the coup against CM Naveen Patnaik on May 29, 2012, has hogged the limelight again yesterday, when two senior leaders from the Congress and BJP visited him at his Sahid Nagar residence.

PCC President Prasad Harichandan was the first to visit Pyari during the day time. Later in the evening, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan reached Pyari’s Sahid Nagar residence, setting off a buzz in Odisha’s political circle.

As the news spread, Pyari sought to clarify the matter, saying the leaders visited him to enquire about his health conditions, as he recently underwent a surgery in New Delhi. He also lamented that none from the BJD, forget about the CM, bothered to visit him. “I would have visited Naveen during his illness even without battling an eyelid,” he added.

Pyari also took a dig at the Odisha CM, saying he did not show any interest to learn Odia language although he had given him a book way back in 2000. “Naveen knows the day he talks in fluent Odia, he would lose people’s confidence. So, he just wants to maintain the status quo,’ said Pyari.