Bhubaneswar: Pradeep Panigrahi, who was expelled from the Biju Janata Dal for anti-people activities, has been giving long statements in certain media against the party and the government. He has been making many false allegations that are not only meaningless but also prove the fact that empty barrels make the most noise. His reactions to the media clearly show that it is he who needs to give answers to the issues that he has raised.
In one of his media statements, Pradeep himself said that for the last two years he is not visiting the people of his constituency. He needs to answer the question why he was out of reach for the people who elected him as their leader. Is not it an anti-people activity? You as a public representative have not discharged your duty and betrayed them. While talking to media persons Pradeep himself said that he is being targeted for illegal sand and liquor businesses. The party never alleged that. He just made it clear that he had links with that.
In his statement in support of Akahs Pathak’s lavish lifestyle, Pradeep Panigrahi has said that Tata Motors has entitled him for Chartered Flights and five star hotels stays. The statement seems to be totally false as no company entitles family members for such lavish expenditure, and for a company like Tata Motors it is impossible. Bills worth millions of rupees were paid at hotels and chartered flights have been paid more than three crore rupees. It is nothing but the greed that Pradeep earned for himself using his public life.
The lavish lifestyle that the Father-Son duo lived and to which Pradeep Panigrahi was a part is totally against the ethos and principles followed and preached by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. These are nothing but anti people activities only. Naveen has been advocating a simple life for his party members and he himself abides by that. When public representatives have no time for common people and they don’t discharge their duties properly they do not have the right to continue.
The photo that has been making rounds in media and social media in which the Chief Minister is seen with the two families of Panigrahi and Pathak, does not make Pradeep Panigrahi immune to his misdeeds. As a leader of the state Naveen meets many people and has to maintain the simple social courtesy. It does not indicate that the Chief Minister will have any sympathy for Panigrahi’s misdeeds and he will be spared. Law will take its own course and Pradeep has to face the prosecution one day.
Another important aspect of Pradeep’s comment in the media was he was not allowed to meet the Chief Minister. If he was not allowed to meet him, how he took the two families for the Chief Minister’s blessings.
All the allegations against the tinted IFS officer Abhay Kant Pathak need to be thoroughly investigated. When a senior officer is under the scanner everything has to be properly managed. When the allegations against Abhay Pathak surfaced the vigilance department took time to collect all the evidences. As the allegations were huge and involved large amounts of money with a large trail the time taken seems to be swift and Pradeep’s allegations about the timing seem to be misleading.
Citing MLA Purna Swain, Pradeep said that the administration was way from the people. The question here rises that where were you? Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has always said that public representatives should always be with the public. But in fact Pradeep was busy in enjoying his lavish life.
The Biju Janata Dal led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is not a political outfit with the ambition to rule. It is a movement with an aim of peoples development. It has the motif of working for the people and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik never deviates from this. Whoever goes against the ethos has to face the consequences and Pradeep is no exception. Representatives who don’t care for the people who elected them have no right to continue and the expulsion of Pradeep is the right thing Naveen has taken.