DECEMBER 9, 1976,

RUMBLE IN ORISSA

THE LEADER OF the Orissa opposition, Biju Patnaik, demanded imposition of President’s rule if the Congress failed to stem the political rot in the state. “The unseemly war of charges and counter-charges between the chief minister and other ministers has reduced the government to dust,” he said in the assembly. The government was at a standstill at a time when 25 million people of the state were facing the worst-ever drought in recent memory. If the central leadership was not satisfied with the chief minister, she should be “thrown out” immediately. If her detractors were indulging in petty politicking, they should be disciplined. Patnaik