Jharsuguda: Union Education Minister on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Odisha government for failure in several fronts during his campaign for BJP candidate Tankadhar Tripathy for by election to Jharsuguda Assembly constituency.
Speaking at a public meeting in Kolabira in the constituency, the star campaigner of the saffron party questioned the very cause of the byelection. The fact that bypoll was being held for the murder of a minister by a police officials reflected the lawlessness in the state, he said.
“How could a Cabinet Minister be shot dead by an official of his own government? The government has to explain the motive behind the murder,” he said.
Citing other instances of failure of law and order in the state, he quoted the case of the abduction and killing of Samartha Agrawal for extortion, the hiding of Guddu Muslim, the aide of Uttar Pradesh’s dreaded criminal Atiq Ahmed in Barhar and the attack on the rally taken out on eve of Hanuman Jayanti in Sambalpur.
Accusing the government of being anti-OBC, the Union Minister said, “Odisha is the only state in the country where OBC people are being deprived of their constitutional right of getting 27% reservation in government jobs and admissions in higher educational institutions. The survey undertaken by the government recently is only for window-dressing as the officials are not moving door to door to collect data. It is a conspiracy to deprive the OBC people of their rights.”
Stating that Jharsuguda continues to lag behind in infrastructure development, Pradhan questioned why the district does not have a government college while the hospitals reel under lack of adequate doctors.
He appealed to the voters to elect BJP nominee Tankadhar Tripathy in the byelection to ensure development and peace in the industrially rich Jharsuguda.
