BJP Mahila Morcha activists tried to barge into the official residence of Agriculture Minister Damodar Rout here on Friday in protest against his offensive remark against BJP spokesperson lekhashree Samantsinghar and Anganwadi Workers at a BJD Jansampark Padyatra in Jajpur a couple of days ago.
The slogashouting Mahila Morcha activists scuffled with police for over thirty minutes. They said the Minister has got no moral right to continue in his post and demanded his sacking. The police had a tough time in controlling the protestors.
Apprehending protests, the police had earlier put up barricades on the road from Capital Hospital Square to Sishu Bhawan Square, where Rout’s residence is located, and deployed five platoons of force to thwart any untoward incident.
Earlier in the day, a group of Anganwadi Workers had held a demonstration at PMG Square and burnt an effigy of Rout for his derogatory statement against them and demanded an apology from him.
It seems Rout, known for his acerbic tongue, has landed himself in a soup as senior ruling BJD leaders also criticised his statement against Samantsinghar and Anganwadi Workers.
Cooperation Minister Surjya Narayan Patro said, “It is highly unfortunate if he (Rout) has made such a statement. There should be a lakshamanrekha and politicians should abide by it.”
Two other Ministers, Maheswar Mohanty and Ananta Das too flayed Rout’s remarks. Mohanty said, “The Agriculture Minister is a senior politician; he should not have made such remarks against the BJP (woman) leader.” His views were also echoed by Das, who said “We are here to serve people; therefore, we as politicians should maintain decency in public life.”
BJD spokespersons Prashant Nanda and Arun Sahoo shied away from making any remarks on the issue when questioned by reporters.
Notably, a few days ago, Samantasinghar had described Minister Rout as ‘Shikhandi’ and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as ‘Dhritarashtra’ at a Press conference.
Rout in retaliation made the derogatory remark in Jajpur, but on the day he took a u-turn and denied to have said so.