Bhubaneswar: In a strong retaliation to the Opposition’s allegation of breakdown of law and order in the state, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday said by accusing Odisha as lawless, they were not only insulting its peace-loving people but also doing injustice to them.
Speaking in his reply to expenditure motion of the Finance department, the chief minister questioned the Opposition how the state would attract heavy investments every year if it was a lawless state. He drew the Opposition’s attention to the following perspectives:
- Getting investment to a state is a reflection of the law-and-order situation in the state. No investment comes when the Law-and-order situation is poor in a state. Odisha gets one of the highest investments in the country.
- If we don’t have a conducive Law and order situation, we won’t have record industrial production year after year or record agriculture production year after year.
- Transport and major logistical movements is also an indicator of law-and-order situation. Our Railways makes one of the highest profits in the country and there is absolutely no problem in the transport situation in the state.
- Whether it is Hockey World Cup, Ratha Yatra, elections or examinations, we have not had any dislocation in any of these events because of law- and-order situation.
- Odisha has been the best in handling specific issues like communal harmony, left-wing, extremism or labour
- We record highest growth rates on a continuous basis and our revenue generation is increasing year after year.
“So when Opposition talks about lawlessness, they should keep these facts in mind. I have attended so many Make in Odisha Conclaves. Whenever an investor meets me, the first remark he makes is what a peaceful state Odisha is,” he said.
Stating that no investor comes for investing his hard earned money if the law and order situation is not good, Naveen said Odisha attracts huge investments because it is a peaceful state.
“Odisha is progressing because it’s a peaceful state. People are peace loving and I am proud of the people of Odisha. By accusing the state as lawless, you are insulting the people. You are doing injustice to the peace-loving people of Odisha,” he said.
Making a scathing attack on the Opposition’s allegations on the murder of minister Naba Kishore Das, the chief minister said, “Where did the Opposition find this point about the government saying that the accused person is mad or government trying to show that the accused person is mad? The Opposition is lying for narrow political gains. My government has always stood for justice.”
The entire investigation is being monitored by a retired High Court judge appointed by the High Court. Even then, the Opposition is accusing the government of hiding something in the investigation. This is deplorable and smacks of political opportunism, he added.
“I assure the people of my state that in all the sensational cases alleged by the Opposition, justice will be done and the culprits will be convicted and when that happens, people will judge the narrow political mindset of the Opposition,” the chief minister said.
