High time country gets out of poll mode: Patnaik to Centre
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik stirred up a hornet’s nest on Saturday when, in his address at the Prime Minister-chaired 6th meeting of the governing council of NitiAayog, he charged that elected governments are meant to
Naveen Patnaik
work for people, beyond the party line, but “every crime is being politicised and every action of the government is being seen from a political angle,”
The 75-year-old CM, who was elected for the fifth consecutive term in 2019, added that it’s high time elected governments stop behaving like political parties.
“Elections are an essential feature of democracy. However, the hallmark of a mature democracy is that once elected, the governments are meant to work for people, beyond party lines. It’s high time that we as a country have serious introspection on whether we are able to do the same. Every crime is being politicised, every action of an elected government is being seen from a political angle. This kind of atmosphere is one of the biggest threats to the pace of development and peace in the country. It’s
high time the country gets out of this election mode and allows elected governments to function,” he said.
Though the CM, who heads the regional Biju Janata Dal as its founder president, a key rival of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), did not mention any political party, his remarks were a direct rebuff of the saffron party’s persistent attack on his government and other nonBJP state governments over various issues.
BJP leaders have been constantly attacking the Biju Janata Dal government on various issues, including chit fund and mining scams, irregularities in procurement of healthcare hardwares and mismanagement Covid-19 crisis.
BJP and Congress leaders have also castigated the BJD government for the distribution of Rs 5,000 each to all farmers during rabi and kharif season under KALIA (Krushak Assistance of Livelihood and Income Augmentation) scheme, saying it was an attempt to buy votes.
Like Trinamul Congress leaders who were incarcerated for their alleged links with ponzi firms, nearly halfa-dozen top BJD leaders were arrested earlier by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the chit fund scam.
A senior BJD leader and state minister is also facing a murder charge while another minister’s name is being accused of allegedly protecting the accused involved in the “kidnapping and murder” of a five-year-old girl in Nayagarh district.
The chief minister also urged NitiAayog to re-evaluate the UPSC, NEET, JEE examination patterns in the country.
“A critical look is needed to re-evaluate the examination pattern for these prestigious and highly sought-after exams. Should not we have exams that focus on equality and attracting merit as opposed to exam patterns that are heavily dependent on highly-paid coaching classes. This will truly eliminate merit in the long run and deny justice to lakhs of our children who live in rural areas and don’t have physical or economic access to coaching classes,” said Mr Patnaik.