Bhubaneswar: Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Naveen Patnaik, Thursday raised the Keonjhar incident in the Odisha Assembly, stating that it has severely tarnished the state’s image at the national and international level.
Speaking during the Special Session on women’s participation in Indian democracy in Odisha Assembly, Patnaik said the incident occurred in the Chief Minister’s home district, making it even more concerning, particularly at a time when the House was deliberating on issues related to women.
“Odisha’s head hangs in shame as a woman’s skeleton had to be exhumed by her family and carried to the bank to prove her death in order to claim her rightful dues,” said Patnaik.
The BJD president further alleged that despite repeated visits by the deceased Kalara Munda’s brother after her death to complete the bank formalities, officials continued to harass the tribal man by demanding proof of his sister’s death.
Targeting the government, Patnaik said the shameful incident shows complete apathy and zero accountability of the administration, supported by a completely insensitive state government.
“This is the state of our women today … this is what the New York Post and BBC have reported on Odisha … and this is what the world is reading about us. The double engine Sarkar with banking as a central subject and an insensitive state Government have utterly failed the people of our State. Such inhumane governance has never been witnessed in the history of Odisha,” alleged the LoP.
He also referred to a travel advisory issued by the United States last year, cautioning its citizens against visiting Odisha. The LoP asserted that the BJP government in the state has no right to speak of women’s dignity and empowerment.
“Governance has been reduced to narratives and optics. The CM should do some soul-searching before he makes any more statements. That this brutal incident has happened in the CMs own district is a reminder of the shocking state of affairs in Odisha,” the BJD supremo stated.
Speaking on the motion moved by CM Majhi, Patnaik asserted that the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has always prioritised women’s reservation and had supported the Bill. However, he criticised the manner in which the legislation was introduced in Parliament by linking it to delimitation, adding that “history will not excuse” such an approach.
He stated that Odisha under Biju Patnaik was one of the first states to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in all local bodies in Odisha, while his Government increased it to 50 per cent in 2011.
Patnaik said the BJD had given 33 per cent tickets to women candidates for Lok Sabha polls in 2019 and 2024 and added that the ruling BJP paid only lip service and spread misinformation.
He criticised the BJP-led Union government for linking the Women’s Reservation Bill, already passed in Parliament, to the delimitation exercise, calling it a clandestine move by the ruling BJP to push delimitation without proper discussion of the facts.
“I am again repeating that history will not forgive us if we support this delimitation. I assure the people of Odisha that as long as I am here, no one will be able to deprive Odisha of its rightful dues,” said Patnaik.
