The Odisha Jan Morcha (OJM) would lodge a complaint against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for submitting a booklet containing “one crore signatures” to the President of India with a lot of fake signatures, said party chief Pyarimohan Mohapatra at a Press meet here on Saturday.
Mohapatra said his party would ask for a copy of the booklet through RTI (Right to Information) law, and after getting it OJM members would go to a particular Assembly constituency for verification of the signatures. Then, they would make affidavits of the person against whom the fake signature was done and would lodge complaint against the Chief Minister as he is the president of the BJD that held the signature campaign demanding Special Category State (SCS) status for Odisha.
Patnaik should have verified the signatures before submitting them to the President, but he didn’t do that, for which he should be booked under law, said the OJM chief. On the issue of the chit fund scams, Mohapatra demanded Patnaik’s resignation for his “involvement” in these scams. He also alleged that Gopalpur BJD MlA Pradeep Panigrahy, who is in-charge of the Chief Minister’s constituency Hinjilicut, had relation with AT Group CMD Pradip Sethi and worked along with Sethi for the constituency. “How many days he (the Chief Minister) will give security to his scam-tainted MlAs,” he asked.
On the Chief Minister’s declaration of a Rs 300-crore of corpus fund for the duped chit fund investors, Mohapatra wondered how the Government can compensate lakhs of investors with this meagre amount.
He also questioned, “Why has the Government thought about distribution of taxpayers’ hard-earned money among the chit fund investors without thinking some other way out for them.”
Mohapatra suggested that the Government activate the sealed accounts of the chit fund companies and bring all the money deposited in various banks after taking the signatures of chit fund firm owners and distribute it among the investors.
He also criticised the Chief Minister for announcing agriculture policy, youth policy and many social schemes only in the last year of his third term. “Patnaik realised the pain of youth, farmers and other people of the State only ahead of the general elections, which shows his vote mongering attitude,” he alleged.
On the issue of Special Category Sate status, Mohapatra said the BJD is creating a political farce and portraying a poor picture of the State in the Delhi durbar. On one hand, the ruling party gives a picture of a developed State at the international level to attract foreign direct investment and on the other, it exhibits a poor State picture to get the SCS tag, he remarked.