Why Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik Agreed To Support Ashwini Vaishnaw For Rajya Sabha A Second Time

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is set to get elected to the Rajya Sabha for the second time from Odisha, with crucial support from the state’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has only 22 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), does not have enough numbers to get Vaishnaw elected to the Upper House by itself.

The minimum strength required for a candidate to get elected to the Rajya Sabha from Odisha is 37 MLAs.

This is one of the rare occasions when the ruling party in a state has extended its support to a candidate fielded by the principal opposition party, and that too a candidate who does not belong to the state.

Vaishnaw hails from Rajasthan.

This won’t be the first time that the Union Minister of Railways, Communications, and Electronics and Information Technology (IT) will be elected to the Rajya Sabha with Naveen Patnaik’s support.

On the express request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Patnaik had got Vaisnaw elected to the Rajya Sabha from his state in 2019, as well. PM Modi put in a similar request to Patnaik this time around, too.

But that was not the only reason Patnaik decided to support Vaishnaw’s candidature. Patnaik has a long association with Vaisnaw and holds the Railway Minister in high esteem. The Chief Minister of Odisha also has a warm personal relationship with Vaishnaw.

The ties between the two date back to about a quarter of a century. Vaishnaw joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1994 and was allotted the Odisha cadre. He was the district magistrate of Cuttack and Balasore districts when the 1999 super-cyclone struck Odisha.

Vaishnaw took personal initiative and accessed a United States (US) Navy website to keep track of the super-cyclone’s path, even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) failed to provide constant updates.

Due to Vaishnaw’s initiative, all coastal districts of the state were able to take timely measures and evacuate people to safer areas. Tens of thousands of lives were, thus, saved.

Vaishnaw also earned acclaim for overseeing the quick evacuation of more than 10,000 people from the coastal areas of Balasore and the efficient distribution of relief to the cyclone-affected.

He is credited with ensuring proper rehabilitation of cyclone victims and quick restoration of essential services in the two districts.

Vaishnaw's good work during and after the cyclone earned him many plaudits and caught the attention of Patnaik, who became the chief minister in early March 2000, a little over four months after the super-cyclone laid waste to most of Odisha.

Patnaik was impressed with the work done by the young IAS officer (Vaishnaw was only 29 years old then). Patnaik, recalls retired IAS officer Hemendra Sahu, was so happy with Vaishnaw’s initiatives and work that he would praise him openly at official meetings.

"Naveen babu used to ask us (bureaucrats) to emulate Vaishnaw and show the same sort of initiative and drive as him (Vaishnaw). I remember the new CM telling us once that while the super-cyclone devastated Odisha, it also gave us a ‘superhuman’ and ‘super-bureaucrat’ (meaning Vaishnaw)," said Sahu.

In 2003, Vaishnaw left Odisha to join then-prime minister Vajpayee’s office as a deputy secretary.

"He had already caught the attention of top leaders, and Vajpayee requested Patnaik to send Vaishnaw to Delhi. The CM was quite reluctant to do so, but had to accede to the PM’s request. We knew that Vaishnaw was destined for big things," said Nilamani Rath, another retired IAS officer.

Vaishnaw was appointed deputy chairman of the Mormugao Port Trust in 2006. Two years later, he left to pursue a management degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He quit the IAS and worked in top positions in private-sector multinationals until 2012, when he set up his own automotive component manufacturing companies.

Modi got to know Vaishnaw when the latter was working in Gujarat to set up two units to manufacture components for Maruti Suzuki and Honda.

Vaishnaw, who had formed his own company — Three Tee Auto Logistics Pvt Ltd — stayed in a container at the site of the two under-construction units to finish the work in a record nine months.

When Modi, at that time the chief minister of Gujarat, learnt of the feat, he invited Vaishnaw for a chat. The two struck an instant rapport and kept in touch even after Modi became the prime minister in 2014.

Sometime in end-2018, Modi requested Vaishnaw to join politics to serve the country more effectively. The latter agreed. Modi and Amit Shah started searching for a Rajya Sabha seat for Vaishnaw.

It was at that time that a senior BJD leader who was on good terms with the BJP top leadership came to know that the latter were planning to get Vaishnaw elected to the Rajya Sabha.

This BJD leader, a Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) himself, also knew Vaishnaw. He sounded out his party boss (Naveen Patnaik) about the prospect of getting Vaishnaw elected from Odisha. Patnaik is learnt to have warmed to the idea.

The BJD Lok Sabha MP then spoke to the Prime Minister and Shah, and said Patnaik would accept their request to extend support to Vaishnaw. Thus, Modi called up Patnaik and requested him to get Vaishnaw elected to the Upper House from Odisha.

Patnaik is learnt to have told PM Modi that he would be happy to do so. Thus, Vaihsnaw was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Odisha for the first time in 2019. Modi put in a similar request this time, too.

Patnaik is reported to have told his senior party colleagues that not only is Vaishnaw highly efficient, he has also done a lot of good work for Odisha as the Railways, Communications, and Electronics and IT Minister. Hence, supporting such a candidate is beneficial for Odisha.