Buckling down under the pressure of an increasing outcry against his questionable comments over the much-publicised Pipili gangrape and murder case, Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Minister Pradeep Maharathy finally resigned from his post on Sunday.
In his resignation letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Maharathy said he quit on moral grounds.
In fact, it seemed the Chief Minister asked the Minister to bow out of office as he became an embarrassment to the Government on the Pipili case.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his public address at Baripada on Saturday had cited the Pipili rape and murder case in his attack on the Patnaik Government on the issue of women’s empowerment and safety.
This prompted the Chief Minister to make a statement that the Pipili case is being pursued seriously and forcefully. He obviously referred to the Crime Branch police’s decision to appeal to higher court against a lower court’s verdict acquitting the main accused, two brothers, in the Pipili case on the ground of lack of evidence.
The Chief Minister’s statement had indicated that Maharathy would be ousted from the Cabinet. Maharathy, who is the MLA from Pipili, is accused by opponents as the saviour of those involved the sensational rape and murder case as they are his supporters.
State Congress and BJP leaders had been demanding Maharathy’s dismissal from the Cabinet for his “insensitive” statement on the verdict of the local court in the case of rape and murder of the girl in 2011. Maharathy had satirically remarked that with the court’s judgement, “Truth has prevailed the rape and murder victim has got justice.”
However as the outcry against his statement continued, he had apologised for his remarks.
Maharathy said in his initial reaction after resigning, “I am a sincere worker of the BJD. I have respect for the party and the Chief Minister. I resigned voluntarily to avoid any pressure on the party.”
Notably, the Additional District Judge Court, Bhubaneswar had acquitted prime accused in the case, Prashant Pradhan and his brother Sukant, on December 24.