Former PCC president Niranjan Patnaik has expressed his deep anguish over the recent “uncivilised statement” of Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy that he had slapped a senior police official and a Minister during his youth. In a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday, the Congress leader questioned if anything can be more ‘ironic’ and lower standards in public life, when youth are told all these to inspire them to be courageous.
“Such crude behavior is more typical of a few other States in the country. But, by far, Odisha has always maintained higher standards in public discourse. Having been in public life for the last four decades I have not come across an act of greater indiscretion on the part of a Cabinet Minister and the concerned Minister seems to have made a habit of it,” the Congress veteran stated in his letter.
Urging the Chief Minister to rise up to the occasion going beyond partisan consideration, the Congress leader requested the former to act decisively to restore public confidence in constitutional functionaries and to prevent further deterioration in public discourse. Notably, while addressing the annual function of the Students Union of Nirakarpur College, Maharathy had bragged about the way in which he misbehaved with a senior police officer and a Minister in his youth.