BHUBANESWAR: In a big political move ahead of the Padampur bypoll, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday gave assurance of granting district status to the sub-division by December 31, 2023.A separate Padampur district has been a long-standing demand of the people of the area.
The chief minister is reported to have given the assurance after a meeting with members of the action committee on district status to Padampur in the presence of state Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari. The Padampur district will have to be carved out from the Bargarh district.
A member of the action committee told mediapersons after the meeting that since the model code of conduct is in force, the chief minister cannot make an official announcement in this regard. As the BJD president, he assured to include the demand in the party’s manifesto for the bypoll.
The committee members said they will withdraw the agitation after the demand is mentioned in the BJD manifesto. In the run up to the by-election, dharnas are being held in front of the sub-collector’s office at Padampur and Paikmal square over the demand.
Meanwhile, leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Narasingh Mishra alleged that assurance of district status to Padampur sub-division by the end of December next year is a violation of the model code of conduct. “He may be the BJD president, but he should not forget that he is also the CM of the state. Assurance of grant of district status to Padampur is a violation of the code of conduct,” he said.
General secretary of the state unit of BJP Prithviraj Harichandan said that similar promises made by the chief minister before the 2019 election, still remain unfulfilled.