Bhubaneswar: The Congress has alleged that the BJP candidate for Padampur bypoll in Odisha’s Bargarh district did not file nomination papers on Monday on the advice of an astrologer.
Speaking at a presser in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, former MLA of Congress Debasish Patnaik said he had information that just 2-3 minutes before BJP candidate Pradip Purohit was going to sub-collector office to file his nomination papers, an astrologer advised him against it. The astrologer reportedly told Purohit that the auspicious time has passed and if he filed the papers now, he would be defeated in the byelection.
The spokesman questioned why Purohit and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who accompanied the candidate, suddenly changed the programme of filing nomination papers and instead joined the farmers taking out a rally demanding payment of crop insurance.
“Why did the state BJP leaders not take up the farmers’ problem with the Centre which pays the crop insurance till now? Since Pradhan is a Union Minister, he could have got the fund sanctioned by approaching Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.
Targeting the state government for the problems faced the farmers, particularly in Padampur, Patnaik said whenever the date of any byelection is declared, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced that he would personally look into the development of the constituency. But the chief minister forgets all about it after the bypoll as in the case of Bijepur which is yet to have a proper approach road, he added.
Terming the input assistance announced by Naveen on the day as yet another ploy to hoodwink the people, the Congress leader said both state and Central governments are responsible for the suffering of the farmers of the state.
