ANGUL: The industrial district of Angul has been handed out a raw deal in the Cabinet reshuffle. There is widespread discontentment among the general public as no MLA from the district has secured a berth in the new Ministry.
All the five Assembly seats of the district - Angul, Talcher, Pallahara, Chhendipada and Athamallik - are represented by BJD MLAs. Besides, the ruling party won 27 out of 28 Zilla Parishad seats in the panchayat elections earlier this year. In such a situation, there was high hope among people that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will include at least one MLA from Angul in his new Cabinet.
In the past, Angul always had the privilege of being represented in the council of ministers. However, the district has gone without ministerial representation since 2014. The last to be inducted in the Ministry from Angul was Rajanikanta Singh who served as the Steel and Mines Minister from 2012 to 2014.
After Naveen became the Chief Minister, Angul was created as a separate district. Late Adwait Prasad Singh was made the Forest and Environment Minister from Angul. After his death, Athamallik MLA Nagendra Pradhan represented Angul and was made the School and Mass Education Minister. Besides, Sanjeeb Sahoo was also made a Minister till 2012.
District Congress president Biplab Jena termed Angul’s non-inclusion in the Cabinet reshuffle as injustice for the people of the district. “We are facing perennial problems of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation of those displaced by projects besides denial of employment opportunities by industries operating in Angul. A Minister from the district could have used his good office to settle the problems,” he said.
On the other hand, district BJD president Mahendra Bastia said the Chief Minister has a deep affection for the people of Angul. He has inducted the most talented persons in the Council of Ministers to serve the State in a better way, he added.