Bhubaneswar: Of the 11 Naveen Patnaik government ministers who bit the dust in the just concluded elections the biggest loser was Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak who was considered close to the chief minister.

A former journalist, he was defeated by rookie BJP candidate Durga Prasanna Nayak from coastal Mahakalapada constituency by a margin of over 30,000 votes. While the margin of defeat was embarrassing for the minister, what must have riled him more was that even people close to him deserted him this time.

But this was primarily on account of his arrogance and inability to keep friends. Ever Since he became a minister  he had been behaving arrogantly which resulted in close friends distancing themselves from him. Most of the time he used them only to dump them later.

There was strong resentment against Nayak across the constituency which he had failed to nurture properly. Most of the outstanding issues like shortage of potable water, lack of bridges at strategic points had remained unaddressed. The Bengali settlers, who once voted for him loyally, were dead against him this time as he had refused to solve their problems.

Across the constituency the settlers had several grievances, the most important being the government’s refusal to honour their land records. It had refused to issue them “ pattas” and was not even accepting land tax from them which created a wave of resentment.

Mahakalapada constituency has a sizeable population of fishermen who were once the voters of Atanu but went against him this time because he failed to take up their problems with the government despite being a minister. They were also put off by his extreme arrogance which has distanced him from friends. The vast majority of fishermen have been demanding adequate compensation from the government for restricting fishing activities in the sea for several months to protect Olive Ridley turtles. This has been a major bone of contention between them and the government for last several years.

Since this has been affecting their livelihood the fishermen have often come into conflict with the authorities by defying the ban. This has even led to forest guards opening fire on them but the issue remains unresolved. The fishing community had reportedly appealed to the minister to take up the issue with the government several times but he refused to listen.

Similarly he paid no attention to the people’s demand for building bridges over rivers and creeks in the constituency at strategic points. As a result people still cross these water bodies  either in country boats or motorised boats locally called “bhutbhutis”. But these are highly risky rides as the boats can capizse in the water in bad weather. There have been accidents in the past and experts agree that there is a dire need for bridges. This demand, however, remains unfulfilled.

The biggest factor that went against Atanu, however, was his arrogance. Having become a minister several times since he first entered politics in 2000 he is said to have become so arrogant that he refused to help even old friends who had been loyal to him. His embarrassing defeat this time is a lesson for him.