Bhubaneswar: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is on a three-day visit to Odisha, on Friday launched a veiled attack on 5T chairman and BJD leader VK Pandian over his ‘ready to face bullets for people’ statement the previous day.
“A motormouth is touring Odisha and making tall claims to be a martyr by hurting his own nail. Someone said that tomato attack and even bullets cannot make him cower in fear. Why does he need to fear the people of Odisha? Are they ghosts or tigers? We have examples like that of Baji Rout, the youngest martyr from Dhenkanal. The 12-year-old fearlessly stood up to the British and took bullets for our nation,” Dharmendra said while releasing commemorative stamp in the honour of ‘Gadjat Gandhi’ Sarangadhar Das in Dhenkanal.
The Union Minister also spoke about the contribution of Das, whom he described as a person, who let go of material happiness and fought for the pride of the state through his strong arguments in favour of the merger of all princely states with Odisha at the provincial legislative council of Odisha in 1946.
While asserting that he was not someone, who can be intimidated by egg, shoe or tomato attacks, Pandian on Thursday said he was willing to face bullets to meet people and work for them after a youth, carrying Congress flag, hurled a tomato at him during ‘Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha’ programme at Belaguntha in Odisha’s Ganjam district.
Also Read: Willing To Take Bullets, Says V K Pandian After Tomato Attack In Odisha’s Ganjam
