BHUBANESWAR: Days after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s veiled criticism of the ‘double engine’ slogan of BJP, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday hit back saying the BJD was not capable of running even a single engine government that focused on providing good governance to the people.
Speaking to mediapersons during the Rozgar Mela organised by the centre here, Pradhan reiterated his ‘Shashikala syndrome’, which he meant running a proxy government.“We want to preserve the pride of Odisha and see the state at the pinnacle of progress. We want to see that the youth of the state get employment. We can never achieve this till the state is afflicted by the Shashikala syndrome,” he remarked.
Alleging that there is a serious governance deficit in the state, Pradhan said, “The chief minister can scold me as much as he likes but I request him to give more attention to the serious issues
of malnutrition, alarming infant mortality and maternal mortality and increasing underweight and stunting among children.”
“I have been raising the issue for the last five years in different forums. On several occasions, I have written to the chief minister on the issue. I urge the state government to fill up the deficit in the governance and do the needful,” Pradhan said.
He further alleged that some leaders of the ruling BJD were trying to drive a wedge between him and party MP Aparajita Sarangi over the letter written by both on bringing Kapileswar temple under ASI protection.
Calling Aparajita his sister, Pradhan said, “What is wrong if we both wrote to Union Culture minister on the same issue. It is for the state’s interest. The BJD is trying to divert the issue to cover up its inefficiency.”