Ex-D’nal MlA’s statement untenable
Dhenkanal’s former MlA Nabin Nanda has been suspended from the BJD following his arrest in connection with a ‘condemnable’ incident in Kolkata. According to Nanda while chasing a pick pocket who entered into a spa, police arrested him inside. The truth yet to be established, Nanda was already out of favour with the party boss and this embarrassing incident provided the BJD supremo an opportunity to axe him. Nanda said he had no intention of visiting the spa. “I am a victim of an unfortunate situation and in no way involved in immoral act,” he said. But, the story seems to be a concocted one because the Kolkota police would not have arrested him and left the pick pocket scot free. Nanda’s conspiracy plea also doesn’t hold water because who will hatch a conspiracy against him and that too in KolkotaIJ Going by him, one can of course ask had his party hatched a conspiracy against him and the pick pocket belonged to the BJD. Kolkata police busted a sex racket being run from the spa on June 30 and 18 persons including Nanda were arrested. Nanda said, “He could not contact his house because the mobile was seized by the police. In another statement, he said he was chasing a man who pick pocketed his wallet and mobile phone. Nanda now looks for ways to absolve him of the crime and come out unscathed.
Balangir BJD crisis: Blame leaders
The royal family of Balangir continued to hold a total grip on the erstwhile Patna State for several years. In the pre-independence era, scions of the royal dynasty ruled as kings and later as Ministers. The feudal politics had its sway over the people and even Congress which ruled the country for more than 50 years and in Odisha for at least 30 years in the post independence period could not make a dent into the anti-Congress vote bank. The district always is known as the Opposition’s forte. Ironically, an old Janata Dal stalwart who switched over loyalty and contested on a Congress ticket is the leader of the Opposition today. But the loP has absolutely no role in the crisis of BJD in Balangir which has come to the fore now. The leaders of BJD themselves are to be blamed for the self created crisis. Kalikesh Sing Deo, an emerging leader of the party, has now become a victim of district level partisan politics, putting his image of becoming a national level leader into jeopardy. The outcome of this internal feud, involving loisingha MlA Jogendra Behera and Kantabnji MlA Yakub Khan, will favour the BJP which has already made a dent into the BJD strong hold of the district and it will not be a surprise if the party sweeps the 2019 poll under the leadership of KV Sing Deo.
W Odisha HC Bench row back again
The year-long platinum jubilee celebration of Gangadhar Meher University kick started at the university campus with State Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera inaugurating it. But there were two notable incidents which must have put the organisers in difficulty. The first incident surfaced when a large number of BJD supporters protested against non-inclusion of Rairakhol MlA Rohit Pujari in the guest list. The organisers had to concede to the demand and included Rohit in the list of guests inviting him to sit on the dais. The second one was of course for a genuine demand of the lawyers of Sambalpur Bar Association who took out a protest rally asking for establishing a permanent bench of the Orissa High Court in western Odisha. The rally was stopped at the Church Chowk and the lawyers jostled with the police personnel deployed there. Though as many as 134 lawyers were taken into preventive detention, some of them managed to reach the main entrance of GMU holding black flags and raised slogans against Behera. Police picked up the lawyers before the arrival of the Finance Minister. Bar Association President Bijitendriya Pradhan later said they were taking out the rally in a peaceful manner but police arrested them. He said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had written a letter to the Centre to take steps for establishment of the High Court Bench in western Odisha in 2013. In response, the law Ministry had urged the State Government to give specific proposal with the opinion of the Orissa High Court. However, after the correspondence, neither the Centre nor the State proceeded further, leading to a stalemate.
Travesty of healthcare at doorstep
Cuttack, the old capital city of Odisha, got an urban community health centre (UCHC) which has been established at CDA, Sector-7. But six months after the inauguration, the centre has been lying idle leading to discontentment among the people in and around the localities. The centre had raised hopes among the people of the satellite township of availing healthcare facilities in their locality. But sans bed and doctors, the centre is yet to become operational. More than one lakh people belonging to CDA are waiting to avail advanced healthcare services at this 30-bed UCHC which aimed at providing medical care, minor surgical facilities, institutional delivery and specialist services for medicine, paediatric and surgery under one roof. Now it is stil a non starter even six months after opening, it pricks a hole in the Government’s claim of providing healthcare at doorstep. If Cuttack, only 30 km away from the new capital, faces such delayed delivery of important facilities, one need not talk of the far-flung areas so far as inclusive growth is concerned. This being the ground reality, the Government’s health sector performance is bound to raise the anti-incumbency factor in the next general election.