In a battle of one-upmanship, agitations launched by the youth wings of the BJD and the Congress over corruption issues have charged up the political atmosphere in the State.
The Orissa Pradesh Youth Congress (OPYC) organised a ‘jail bharo’ on Thursday in Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for the large-scale irregularities in the implementation of MGNREGS.
In retaliation, the Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD) announced on Thursday that it will demonstrate in front of the Raj Bhavan on Friday demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the 2G spectrum scam.
Alleging that the involvement of the chief minister in the MGNREGS scam cannot be ruled out, OPYC president Pradip Majhi alleged that irregularities in such a large-scale could not have continued throughout the State without the knowledge of the higher-ups.
The highest Rs 11.23 crore was spent in Jharigaon block of Nabarangpur district in 2010-11 but very few tangible assets, created under the scheme, could be seen there. He alleged that Rs 7 crore out of the allotted amount was misappropriated in the block.
Announcing the BYJD decision in a media conference here on Thursday, State convener Sanjay Dasburma said during the next ten days demonstrations and dharnas will be organised at all the district headquarters demanding the resignation of the prime minister over the 2G scam.
He said memoranda in this regard will be sent to the President from all BYJD district units.
Dasburma alleged that the 2G scam has exposed the true colours of the Congress. Several senior Congress leaders are also involved in the CWG and Adarsh housing society scams.
