Bhubaneswar: Dubbing the BJP government’s move of delinking Biju Patnaik’s name from the Panchayati Raj Divas as an “insult” to the Odisha stalwart, opposition BJD and Congress Tuesday urged Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to reconsider the decision.
The Odisha government had earlier announced its decision that though March 5 will be celebrated as the birth anniversary of former chief minister Biju Patnaik, there will be no observance of Panchayati Raj Divas on that day.
BJD leaders Tuesday held a demonstration near the Biju Patnaik statue at the Airport Chhak, asserting that they would inform the matter to people in every nook and corner of the state if the BJP did not withdraw its decision.
A statement issued by the CMO Monday had made it clear that there will be no holiday March 5, even though it was in the list of government holidays.
All schools and government offices will remain open March 5, an official said.
The CMO also said that though March 5 has been celebrated as Panchayati Raj Divas in Odisha every year, this time the day will be observed April 24, as per the national observance.
“To overcome this inconsistency at the national and state levels in the celebration of Panchayati Raj Day, the state government has decided… it will instead celebrate it April 24,” the statement had said.
“All previous governments in the state, including the Congress, have celebrated March 5 as PR Divas since the 90s. But, it is a matter of great sorrow that the Mohan Charan Majhi government changed it,” senior BJD leader Debi Prasad Mishra said.
Former minister and Opposition Chief Whip Pramila Mallik said Biju Patnaik introduced the three-tier panchayat system in the state after being elected as the CM for the second time in 1990.
“The BJP is afraid of Biju Patnaik’s name, which is why it is conspiring to erase his relevance for Odisha,” she alleged.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Das also condemned the government’s decision.
“The BJP government should have continued with the earlier practice. The public holiday was also a reminder for people as the state celebrated the birth anniversary of Biju Patnaik,” he said.
“This is an attempt to bury the legacy of the legendary leader,” Das asserted.
Other senior Congress leaders, including Jaydev Jena, Taraprasad Bahinipati and Jagannath Patnaik also slammed the BJP government for its decision to “deliberately” insult Biju Patnaik.
Odisha BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal, however, welcomed the state government’s decision.
“April 24 is a historic day in Indian democracy as the Panchayat Raj system was given constitutional recognition by implementing the 73rd amendment of the Constitution. Therefore, people’s representatives are getting the opportunity to participate in democracy,” Biswal said.
Rejecting opposition allegation of insult to Biju Patnaik, the BJP leader said: “Many former CMs of Odisha like Harekrushna Mahatab, Janaki Ballabh Pattnaik, Nandini Satpathy and Navakrishna Chowdhury’s birth anniversaries are being celebrated at the government level. Similarly, Biju Babu’s birth anniversary will also be celebrated. The BJD should answer why it was demeaning other leaders earlier.”
After coming to power in Odisha, the BJP government has changed the names of 21 state schemes launched by the BJD dispensation. Several of those schemes were named after Biju Patnaik.
