Says Odisha mining scam a national shame
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national executive committee member Yogendra Yadav on Thursday equated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik with Mouni Babas (silent seers) and said the duo keep mum on corruption around them and do not act to punish those involved in scams and irregularities.
Addressing a rally here, Yadav said so far as corruption and irregularities committed around them are concerned both the Prime Minister and Odisha Chief Minister acted as Mouni Babas who always close their eyes when they see corruption around them and even protect the corrupt but continue to claim that they are clean and transparent.
Coming down hard at the ruling BJD Yadav said, “The so called clean image of the Odisha Chief Minister has exposed following the report of Justice MB Shah Commission which clearly pointed that the scam in Odisha was to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore. It is not a small issue. It is a great shame not only for the people of Odisha but also for the country.”
“Here in the mining scam the Odisha Chief Minister acts as a Mouni Baba like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Despite taking any strict action against the violators he prefers to adopt other ways to keep his clean image intact,” rued Yadav.
Yadav said, “The Government has looted around Rs 1 crore from each village by allowing mining mafia and their beneficiaries to swallow all profits. This Rs 60,000 crore could have been used for the development of the villages. The Chief Minister is responsible for the scam. No wonder he is sheltering the people involved in the scam.”
Yadav urged the party’s State leadership to choose an honest candidate to contest the ensuing elections against Naveen Patnaik in the ensuing general elections.
like BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Tuesday, Yadav who started his speech in a few sentences in Odia too targeted Patnaik for its failure to speak Odia. “It is a shame that your Chief Minister cannot speak Odia, the mother tongue of people in Odisha, the State he heads,” remarked Yadav.
“The people’s movements in Odisha against the Posco project, agitation of tribal people in Niyamgiri against Vedanta and the Save Gandhamardhan movement are the examples of Odia people to save their jal, jammen and jungle,” Yadav said.
Party State convenor Nishikant Mohapatra informed that the party would launch a campaign from February 20 in which the party cadres would visit every village to sensitise people about the corruption committed by the BJD Government.