BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday once again appealed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to convene an all party meeting over the border dispute with Andhra Pradesh. Pradhan, who is on a two-day visit to the state, told mediapersons he has been repeatedly drawing the attention of the chief ministers of the two states for an amicable settlement to the border dispute which is not only confined to Kotia group of villages but also several other parts of southern Odisha.
“All political parties may have different opinions but they stand united when it comes to the security and territorial jurisdiction of the state. We should shed our differences and stay above politics over Kotia issue. Leaders of political hues of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have demonstrated unity in their Assemblies and even the Parliament on territorial issues,” Pradhan said. He appealed all political parties to join hands to fight for the interests of the 4.5 crore people of the state.
Exuding confidence that such unity is possible in Odisha, Pradhan said it is the responsibility of the chief minister to take all political parties into confidence to find a solution to the border dispute. Justifying his ‘Andhra go back’ slogan amid reservation from the ruling BJD, the minister said he will do it repeatedly as a proud Odia. “It is the duty of every Odia to see that the sacrifices made by Madhusudan Das, Gopabandhu Das, Fakirmohan Senapati, Gangadhar Meher, Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati and other great sons of the soil for formation of Odisha as a separate state do not go in vein,” he said.
Taking a veiled jibe at Revenue minister Pramila Mallick, Pradhan said he is ready to tolerate any amount of verbal abuse and insult but the minister in-charge should perform her duties properly. He said the Andhra Pradesh administration has dared to put up publicity billboards of its chief minister within 15 km stretch of Odisha territory but the local administration is doing nothing. The situation that prevailed in 2018 remains the same even today.The union minister had written to Patnaik in November last year for an all-party meeting over the Kotia issue.