Bhawanipatna: Senior Congress leader in-charge of Odisha affairs, Dr Ajoy Kumar, on Wednesday sought to disarm his party’s rivals in Odisha – the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – by alleging that the two parties were in a “live-in” relationship for over two decades now and they wanted to “swindle” the resources of the state.
Addressing party’s Hunkar Yatra (call for regime change in Odisha) at Bhawanipatna, the headquarters of Kalahandi district, Kumar said both the BJD and BJP – though posing themselves as political rivals – are actually “illegal” and “live-in” partners who have joined hands rule Odisha.
“Marriage is a recognised relationship. However, the BJD and BJP who have such a bond but they got separated in 2009, now maintain a live-in relationship. I would better not say which one of them is the husband and which other is the wife because they will file a case against me. People of Odisha are not accepting such distasteful relationships and they would snub them in the coming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls,” said the Congress leader.
The Congress leader, as political analysts maintained, was hinting at the BJD and BJP’s mutual cooperation in passing crucial bills in the Parliament, though they actually fought as rivals in Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
Kumar took a potshot at the BJD leaders for “submitting” to the “authoritarian” rule of V K Pandian, a retired bureaucrat-turned politician who is now controlling the party affairs with strong backing by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
“V K Pandian is a Tamilian. He was a bureaucrat serving under the state government before quitting job to join BJD ostensibly with a motive to hijack power. It surprises all of us how the BJD leaders, including ministers and MLAs, have sacrificed their Odia pride and accepted his leadership. What is more shocking is that these BJD leaders are seen sitting off-the-dais when Pandian addresses public meetings,” the Ajoy Kumar said.
He warned that the Congress would never allow a Tamilian to rule Odisha and ensure that the state is “served” by the Odias only.
“Odisha is of Odias, by Odias and for Odias only. Nobody can hijack or subjugate Odia pride and make the Odias subservient to them,” said.
Speaking on the occasion, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Sarat Pattanayak and former Union railway minister Bhakta Charan Das the BJD and BJP have utterly failed to create jobs for Odias, especially in Western Odisha and blamed both parties for the large-scale migration of agriculture and construction workers to other states in search of menial jobs.
On the occasion of Hunkar Janasabha, senior BJD leader Balabhadra Majhi along with 30 sitting Sarapanches joined the Congress.
There were no comments from the side of the ruling BJD or BJP on Ajoy Kumar’s observation.
