Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik while on his visit to Bhuban on Sunday to inaugurate the long awaiting Baji Rout Setu forgot to pay homage to the youngest martyr of India, Baji Rout, whose statue was newly installed at the meeting place.
Interestingly, Chief Minister Patnaik, Kamakhyanagar MlA and Mines Minister Prafulla Kumar Mallick, Parjang MlA and District Planning Board Chairman Dr Nrusingha Charan Sahu and MP Tathagat Satpathy did not garland the statue of the martyr. Notably, the new bridge over river Brahmani has been named after the martyr.
The Chief Minister too was not aware that a statue of the martyr installed at Kalika Bazar in Bhuban was covered by a big flex banner of Biju Patnaik.
The approach roads of the Baji Rout Setu, constructed at a cost of about `50 crore, have not yet been completed. Instead of coming near the bridge, the Chief Minister inaugurated the Setu and laid five foundation stones for various projects by a remote at the meeting place.
Sources said the Baji Rout Setu project was initiated by former Kamakhyanagar MlA Prasana Kumar Patnaik and former Chief Minister Biju Pattnaik on March 31, 1991 had laid its foundation stone at an estimated cost of `26 crore. The proposed Setu had achieved administrative approval on December 8, 1994.
The locals of Bhuban who gathered to listen to the Chief Minister were rather hurt as Patnaik did not utter a single word in his written speech expressing sympathy for the six victim families of a recent boat capsize incident and also for family of the minor who was torched after rape at Malliguda village a month ago.
Besides, most of the locals were aggrieved as local MP Satpathy satirically uttered the name of the Prime Minister as Damodar Das Modi. 41 BJP activists were held prior to the visit of the Chief Minister.