IN POLITICS, WE DON’T BELIEVE IN ENMITY: PRADHAN

IT isn't easy being Dharmendra Pradhan. The BJP politician and Union minister whose mandate is to deliver the state which Naveen Patnaik has held in thrall for a quarter century. Pradhan by nature is a genial politician, born in the old mould in spite of his comparatively tender years in politics his father Devendra Pradhan was one of Vajpayee's ministers.

Pradhan is in Angul, a small town that falls in his constituency Sambalpur, having made all arrangements for his Prime Minister's rally the next day.

Modi was arriving there after his Puri roadshow, and Pradhan, one of the BJP's best organisers, has pulled out the stops. The streets are festive with saffron: flags, buntings, posters and people wearing Modi masks.

Indian towns have quaint eccentricities, drawn from whimsical pantheons. Drive into Angul to meet its outlandish astonishment: a perfect life-size crimson and gold statue of Iron Man guarding a well-tended park. That day, it is fitting that India's 21st century Iron Man Narendra Modi, will be landing in the maidaan at high noon.

Pradhan, in a traditional dhoti kurta and a white porcelain lotus pinned to his chest is a far cry from Iron Man's derring-do persona, but the iron in his soul is unmissable. Going by the fawning crowds along the road to the oval maidaan where the PM's helicopter will descend, it is clear that the soft-spoken minister is Odisha's only national leader.

Pradhan is dismissive of the label. "I'm a small karyakarta which has given me many responsibilities," he gives the boilerplate platitude smart politicians give journalists; and thanks his Prime Minister's largesse in giving him various missions at various times.

"There is no concept of national leadership here. As a party worker and minister, I carry out my responsibilities to the best of my knowledge and understanding." The subtext lingers somewhere in between the lines: through denial, Pradhan is acknowledging his stature as the only national leader in his state. It is a big deal.