Terming the Vikas Yatra as eyewash of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress has criticised the misuse of government machinery in organising it and said that having started with injury to 44 people as the vehicle carrying them turned turtle at Kuteram and two vehicles were set on fire by Maoists, the portents do not bid good for the people, it added.
Addressing a press meet jointly Tuesday, former leader of opposition and senior Congress leader Mahendra Karma and Dantewada District Congress president Vimal Surana claimed that the extent to which government machinery has been misused in course of the Vikas Yatra was an example in itself showing that it was less of the state government than of BJP. In this context they cited a letter issued by BJP office assigning responsibility to a government teacher as if he was a party worker or its office bearer. The letter was issued by General secretary Chaitram Atami of BJP Dantewada office showing clearly how government officials have been misused as BJP workers. In fact, the entire administration is unofficially engaged in organisation of the Vikas Yatra, they charged.
Karma demanded that if the Vikas Yatra is official function of the state government and not of BJP then people injured in Kuteram accident as well as the owner of the private vehicle burnt by insurgents at Keshapur village should be given relief and compensation. He also questioned that if this is the state government’s function then why the name of Nagar Panchayat president Dipak Karma was missing from the protocol list while the name of president of the neighbouring Nagar Panchayat was included in it. He charged that even in government ad name of Nagar Panchayat president was missing which clearly showed that Vikas Yatra was taken both as of government’s function and of the BJP also, as per convenience. The duo criticised the politicisation of such functions and demanded that misuse of public fund ahead of the Assembly polls should be stopped forthwith.