BHUBANESWAR : The Congress on Monday sought Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s regret for his alleged remarks on the skin colour of tribal women.
Addressing a media conference at New Delhi, Odisha in-charge of Congress Ajoy Kumar and Koraput MP Saptagiri Ulaka said the chief minister’s statement at a recent function in Bhubaneswar that tribal girls were not ‘fair’ and he had to search outside Keonjhar district for a bride is anti-tribal.
“I always wanted to marry a fair girl. But tribal girls are not fair. So in this way I was linked with Mayurbhanj district as I married a girl from there,” the chief minister is reported to have said at the function.
Alleging that the statement of the chief minister has reflected the attitude of the BJP government towards tribals, the Congress leaders said during the last seven months, crime against tribal women have also increased in Odisha.
They alleged that the BJP government has foresaken the tribals in other matters also. Ulaka said the Polavaram dam will submerge 122 tribal villages in Malkangiri district with a population of 6,000. But the government has not taken any step in the interest of the tribals threatened by the dam.
The Congress leaders said only having a tribal chief minister was not sufficient. He should act for the welfare of the tribals.