A political slugfest over arrested spiritual leader Sarathi Baba has broken loose with the BJP and Congress trying to nail the BJD over its patronage to the self-styled godman.
This despite the controversial Baba having been arrested; his ashram raided with seizures of several clinching proofs by a Crime Branch team and a process is on to take Sarathi on remand.
It appears the Opposition parties have shifted their focus from the Nabakalebar and Brahmaparibartan fiasco in Puri to Barimula ashram in Kendrapada and are spitting fire against the ruling BJD.
The BJP and the Congress have condemned the police excess in Kendrapada against peaceful demonstrators and demanded arrest of former Kendrapada SP Satish Gajbhiye and his dismissal from service.
Both have alleged that Sarathi Baba could not have risen to such a height and wielded so much clout but for the active political support of the BJD.
They also went hammer and tongues against the local administration and police for shielding the wrongdoings of the Baba despite complaints against him on several irregularities, including land grab and sexual exploitation.
The BJP and the Congress have declared to support a strike by the Odisha High Court Bar Association and the All Odisha lawyers’ Association on August 10.
Both the BJP and Congress are not content with the Crime Branch probe since, they alleged, the probe agency is a puppet in the hand of the ruling party.
BJP leader Bijaya Mohapatra doubted if the Crime Branch can bring the probe to a logical end. He demanded that a special probe be launched into the scam monitored by court or the case be handed over to the CBI.
The Congress also has not expressed satisfaction over the present inquiry and demanded a neutral and comprehensive investigation in to the Baba episode, including the Baba’s nexus with the BJD leaders, the monetary and administrative goodwill he obtained and his role in chit fund scam.
The Congress accused former Aul MlA of BJD Pratap Deb of having shown undue favour to the Sarathi ashram by releasing several lakhs of rupees from the MlAlAD fund without gumption.
Similarly, the opposition has also alleged that BJD’s Patkura MlA Bed Prakash Aggrwalla also recommended the Baba’s ashram to be recognized as a tourism spot, apart from releasing financial grants for the development of the ashram.
All in all, the Opposition spoke in one voice that the Baba flourished at the behest of the ruling party and by the misuse of the administrative machinery and police.
Meanwhile, BJD has done everything it could not to let the Opposition get an upper hand on the issue.
Deb lost no time to rubbish the allegation of financial grant to the Sarathi ashram while senior party MlA Amar Satpathy defended the Government’s action so far in the case.