Thursday, December 9, 2010

Naveen’s Rahul reply-Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik has deployed his foot soldiers against the “sipahi” of the tribals.-Dec. 5:/10

Naveen’s Rahul reply

SUBHASHISH MOHANTY

Rahul Gandhi

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 5: Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik has deployed his foot soldiers against the “sipahi” of the tribals.

Three days ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s December 8 visit to the state to court students to join the Congress, the Biju Janata Dal boss stepped up his anti-Centre chorus at a rally attended by his party’s student wing.

Exhorting some 4,000 students to join him in his fight against the Centre, Patnaik said the time had come to protest harder against the UPA’s step-motherly attitude towards Orissa. “Now that you have joined the battle, our movement will get an impetus. We are trying hard to develop Orissa but each time the Centre comes in the way of our efforts,” he said.

Rahul had, during his August 26 visit to Orissa, defended tribals’ rights and opposed the Vedanta group’s refinery expansion proposal at Lanjigarh. He had then called himself the “sipahi (soldier)” who would fight for their cause at the Centre.

Rahul is scheduled to interact with 3,000-4,000 students in Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur, Ganjam and Koraput districts during his visit. On December 14, the Congress has lined up an Assembly gherao to expose alleged government corruption.

Patnaik claimed the UPA was denying Orissa its due. “We are not asking the Centre for any special favours. We are only demanding what is our right,” he said. “We are demanding mineral royalty and development of the railway network. The East Coast Railway is earning nearly Rs 5,000 crore from the state annually, but nothing significant has been done for its development.”

Raking up the Polavaram dam issue, he said: “In the case of Polavaram, the Centre has been backing Andhra. It has not shown the same concern for Orissa. We will give them a befitting reply.”
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