A resignation drama in the kidnap episode

BHUBANESWAR: Although the release of BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka looks a matter of hours, the BJD would be forced to step into another embarrassing crisis of sorts. The resignation drama in the month-long abduction episode has put the BJD leaders in a quandary. Will Hikaka quit as MLA? Will he snap ties with the party as he has reportedly promised in the kangaroo court? Partymen from the area are not forthcoming and would like to keep mum till Hikaka walks out into the safety. “A person in captivity is understandably under various types of pressures and situation will be clear only after his release,’’ a senior BJD leader pointed out on Wednesday. Speculation is rife that it was the Maoist outfit that pressured Hikaka into agreeing to resign and decided to let him go only after his promise. But the senior BJD leader is not ready to buy this. ‘This is their (Maoists) version. We will have to wait for the release of Hikaka,’ he countered.  As talks do the rounds, Hikaka’s possible resignation is being seen as paving way for Nachika Linga, convenor of the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangha (CMAS) who apparently wants to taste electoral victory.  Political circles, however, dismissed such a possibility as far fetched.  Linga is till now a wanted man and on the run. He did not respond to the appeal of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to come to the negotiating table for release of the MLA. Nor the Maoists raised any demand for withdrawal of cases against Linga. They raised several demands for other CMAS prisoners. BJD leaders from the district, however, do not want to enter the issue of what went wrong between the Maoist outfit and Linga.  The Zilla Parishad poll has brought to the fore  the fact that the writ of the CMAS runs in Narayanpatna __ an independent candidate backed by the organisation won. The possibility of Hikaka’s resignation drama emanated from the letter written to the Chief Minister in his initial days in captivity. If necessary, Hikaka had then said, he would quit his seat. However, things would be clear once he is free and speaks his mind.