The Congress on Thursday dubbed the contents of the Orissa home department’s whitepaper as “black lies on white papers” and sought the state government to reveal the truth with regard to the prevailing law and situation.
“The whitepaper presented in the state Assembly on Wednesday is nothing but a book containing blatant lies. The contents have been cooked very meticulously so as to ensure that the government does not face embarrassment on the floor of the Orissa Assembly from the Opposition,” senior Congress legislator Santosh Singh Saluja told reporters here.
At least 25 of the 30 districts in the state, said Mr Saluja, had come under the grip of the Maoist forces in the last 10 years of the BJD rule and serious crimes were taking place every day in the state capital. The failure of the state government to reach out the poor, especially the tribals, has resulted in the spurt of Naxal activities in the state.
“The state administration is in shambles. The police administration is in a total mess. Not a single First Information Report (FIR) is registered without taking bribe from the concerned parties. In Naxal-affected areas, most of the police stations do not have officers,” the veteran Congress leader said.
Another senior Congress leader Anup Sai alleged that most of the ruling BJD leaders were neck-deep involved in corruption.
He demanded that a state level independent vigilance commission should be formed in the line of Central Vigilance Commission to probe into the irregularities committed by senior officials.
It may be mentioned here that the Congress, the main Opposition in the state Assembly, has boycotted the proceedings of the ongoing budget session of the House since July 17 protesting chief minister’s Naveen Patnaik’s rejection of their demand for dismissal of two ministers — mass education minister Pratap Jena and urban development minister Badrinarayan Patra. The party leaders allege that the two ministers have swindled Rs 120 crore by diverting the Central supplied subsidised coal to fake industrial houses.