Bhubaneswar: Mounting a sharp attack on Odisha’s Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling, Congress on Monday accused the BJP leader of having used a fake caste certificate to pursue studies and get a government job.
The serious allegation was brought by Odisha Congress spokesman Abhishek Mahananda, who pointed out that the sub-caste which Mukesh Mahaling belongs was included in Scheduled Caste (SC) category only in 2002 with a Presidential order.
The Congress leader sought to know as to how Mahaling obtained the caste certificate that he submitted in school, college and during the government job.
He further claimed that Sambalpur RDC had summoned Mahaling to make his position clear in this connection recently, but the Minister failed to appear before the authorities.
Coming down heavily on the Minister, he said the entire state and nation witnessed the manner in which Mahaling, who is also Parliamentary Affairs Minister, used unparliamentary language inside the Assembly in the presence of Speaker Surama Padhy.
Mahananda said if Mukesh Mahaling obtained caste certificate in a fraudulent manner, it was a criminal offence and this is a serious issue. Mahaling committed a criminal offence by using fake certificate pursue education and government job before he became an MLA and Minister, the Congress leader claimed, adding that the BJP leader also deprived the Dalit community of getting government benefits.
It may be noted that Mahaling was working as an environmental scientist before getting elected to the Assembly from Loisingha in Balangir district.
