Even though Pradeep Maharathy has tendered his resignation from the State Cabinet over his controversial remarks on the Pipili gangrape and murder case court verdict, the Congress on Monday hit out at the ruling BJD and demanded resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on moral ground.
Congress State Media Cell chief Satyaprakash Nayak in a Press conference here alleged that the faulty investigation by police into the Pipili case led to the acquittal of the accused; and as the Home Department portfolio is held by the Chief Minister, he should take moral responsibility and resign.
Nayak also demanded that the report of the Justice PK Mohanty Commission, which was submitted to the Government nearly two and a half years ago, be made public. He further raised question over the role of the Investigating Officer and the Crime Branch and said the case should be reinvestigated to give justice to the victim.
“The Congress is not satisfied with the resignation of Pradeep Maharathy as it’s just a publicity stunt of the BJD and the same old strategy of Naveenbabu to sweep the issue under the carpet. We demand immediate resignation of the Chief Minister and reinvestigation of the case. We also want the CM to make the Justice PK Commission report public,” Nayak said.
In reaction to Nayak’s allegations, BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra said, “If we start digging, several skeletons of the Congress’ in its 60 years of rule in the country would come out of the cupboard. However, the BJD doesn’t want to stoop so low.”