Bhubaneswar: The developments relating to the arrest of senior IFS officer Abhay Kant Pathak and his son Akash Pathak and the subsequent arrest of Pradeep Panigrahi, the MLA from Gopalpur, have been a topic of discussion in media and became talk of the town in the last few days.
While investigations revealed huge amounts of disproportionate assets from the Pathaks, Pradeep Panigrahi’s startling illegal activities have surprised all. Amidst all these, a number of questions arise on the public life of people who are responsible for the people. Those who are in public life are liable to work for the people and any deviation from it needs to be corrected immediately. The action taken in this issue by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik reaffirms his commitment to zero tolerance towards corruption and once again puts him above all.
While honesty in public life stands as the guiding principle for Naveen Patnaik and his administration, there is a clear testimony that Naveen himself abides by what he preaches to others. Since Naveen took to politics in the late 90s, he has been the leader of the masses. Behind this popularity and leadership are his simplicity and the truthfulness. The ideologies of Naveen have helped the Biju Janata Dal to be closer to the people and work for the downtrodden since its inception.
Naveen has been an advocate of Gandhian principles of public welfare and his governance is the testimony to it. Any departure from them leads to an action similar to that of Pradeep Panigrahi.
Naveen has been instructing all his MLAs and leaders to practice a simple life and stay away from activities that are detrimental to the development of the people. All have seen his simple life and good governance. But a leader like Pradeep Panigrahi, who was supposed to work for the people, deviated from the principles and acted against the ethics and now facing the repercussions.
The tainted MLA will now be investigated by the Lokayukta. This is the first corruption allegation referred by the Chief Minister to the Lokayukta after its creation.
It’s a clear message for all those in and outside the government and are working for the people that they are under constant vigil and they need to abide by the ethics. The fate of those who are not standing for the people and going against the principles will be same as for Pradeep. There are many examples in the last two decades when Naveen has been strict enough towards corruption and dishonesty towards people’s welfare. The political journey and life of Naveen today has become an example for others which need to be imitated.
Life with exorbitant and expensive facilities such as chartered flights and five star hotels and that too when the state is facing a pandemic is totally uncalled for. What we need is to pursue a public life that is centered around the common people. This is what makes Naveen the unparalleled leader and different from others. He has been the darling of the masses and a guiding principle for the millions of followers.
The hieroglyphs of COVID-19 have caused insomnia. The anti-people activities of the monsters of chaos compounded it. They duped the people and enslaved them. Naveen’s pro people politics set them free. His actions once again placed ‘people first ‘. No wonder his regime is a path to paradise of justice and freedom.