For a chief minister who prides himself on an unsullied reputation, Naveen Patnaik is going to unseemly lengths to protect it. With nearly 30 high-level inquiries ordered in the past 19 months, the chief minister's penchant for probes has become a subject of raging discussion. From thefts in temples to a lawyer-policemen clash in Puri, even a trivial drunken brawl in a local club, have all impelled the conscientious chief minister to institute probes.
It all began with two cbi inquiries into alleged scams in the Water Resources and Agriculture Department during the previous Congress regime. Today, the agency is probing no less than six irregularities. Patnaik has also instituted eight judicial inquiries while the Crime Branch of the Orissa Police is investigating nine alleged improprieties. This, besides half-a-dozen vigilance probes involving three cabinet ministers whom Patnaik had dropped earlier on corruption charges.

"I order probes because my Government has little to hide," explains the chief minister. Patnaik's untainted image may yet be his strongest asset. That perhaps explains why despite his Government's modest performance record, Patnaik's party, the Biju Janata Dal, has done impressively in the panchayat elections, particularily in the coastal districts. Breaking with tradition, Patnaik had personally campaigned in the elections for the local bodies, virtually putting his and his Government's credibility at stake.

States

STRING OF INQUIRIES > VIGILANCE: Six of the eight inquiries involve Patnaik's three former cabinet ministers. > CBI: Six cases, including alleged scams in Water Resources and Agriculture Department. > JUDICIAL: Eight cases of which only one has been completed. > CRIME BRANCH: Nine alleged criminal irregularities.

Having been virtually dragged into politics after his father Biju Patnaik's death, the chief minister knows few people in Orissa and, therefore, has no constraining considerations. Which is why he has no qualms in ordering an inquiry at the drop of a hat-be it into the hooch tragedy in Khurda, the scam involving the purchase of polythene sheets for cyclone relief or the purchase of groundnut seeds by the Agriculture Department.

Rivals, however, insist that the probes are motivated, either to nail political opponents or to sweep contentious issues under the carpet. Take Bijoy Mohapatra, one of Patnaik's strongest rivals and president of the Orissa Gana Parishad. A vigilance case was slapped against him for "misdemeanours" committed as irrigation minister under Biju Patnaik. Bolstering the rivals' allegation is also the fact that most inquiries continue to linger, the most protracted being the judicial probes, where only one of the eight inquiries has been completed so far.

There are others who are unimpressed by Patnaik's love of probes. "He had promised several things, including jobs for the unemployed. But all that he is delivering is inquiries," says Prasad Harichandan, a Congress legislator and former home minister. This has also meant that the already burdened investigating agencies are being stretched to the limit with the state exchequer being forced to dole out nearly Rs 5 lakh for every judicial probe.
The raging discord over the probes may be disconcerting but with popular support to bolster him, Patnaik is unlikely to stem his fascination for probes just yet.