JHARSUGUDA/BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday said the silence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the sensational murder of his cabinet minister Naba Kishore Das and abduction and murder of a minor boy Samarth Agarwal in Jharsuguda has put a big question mark on the credibility and efficiency of the state government.
Addressing an election rally at Jhilipali panchayat in Kolabira block of Jharsuguda Assembly constituency, Pradhan dared the chief minister to tell the people about the motive behind the murder of Das which has been kept secret for more than three months.
“After watching the state government for a long time, it appears the administration is not under the control of the chief minister. When cabinet ministers, party MLAs, chief secretary and DGP do not get a chance to meet the chief minister, the natural question that comes to the mind of the public is who is running this government,” Pradhan said.
The Union minister said Odisha is being ruled by a weak, inefficient and anti-people regime. He said some anti-Odisha elements are exploiting the state in the same manner as the East India Company that looted the nation’s resources and made it poor. Dubbing the elements as ‘Kalapahad’, Pradhan said such forces are conspiring to manipulate the situation and compromise the security of the state.
Anti-social elements from outside the state are taking shelter here but the government has no information. “Who was giving protection to notorious gangster Guddu Muslim in Bargarh? Who is Raja Khan and what is his business relationship with influential BJD leaders?” he asked.“I think the chief minister is not aware of this. I am sure such incidents would not have happened had the chief minister known about it,” Pradhan remarked.
Condemning the attack on BJP candidate Tankadhar Tripathi and Sundargarh MLA Kusum Tete by BJD workers in the presence of police, he said those who created unrest in Sambalpur are trying to repeat the same in Jharsuguda. “Those who attacked BJP;s candidate in Mangal Bazaar have links with Guddu Muslim and the anti-socials responsible for Sambalpur violence because they were speaking the language of Pakistan. BJP will continue to fight such forces and defeat them,” Pradhan said.
Giving an account of the development done by the Narendra Modi government for Jharsuguda district, Pradhan asked the chief minister to tell the people of the district with a sizable tribal population why the Tribal Advisory Committee has not met for last five years.