CM has done precious little for tribals’ devpt: Pradhan

Bhubaneswar/Jharsuguda: Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan hit the campaign trail for BJP candidate Tankadhar Tripathy in bypoll-bound Jharsuguda and slammed chief minister Naveen Patnaik on various issues while addressing a public meeting in Kolabira block on Sunday.
“The people of Jharsuguda have not yet received an answer from the Naveen Patnaik government as to why an on-duty police officer killed a minister (Naba Kisore Das). The motive behind the murder is still a mystery. Also, the abduction and brutal murder of a minor boy in Jharsuguda recently exposed the law and order situation. The chief minister has not said anything regarding the murder of the minor boy,” Pradhan said.
He added, “Naveen has done precious little for the development of tribals in Jharsuguda. Naveen babu, would you kindly answer how many times you have presided over the Tribal Advisory Committee for the development of tribal-dominated areas like Laikera, Kirmira and Kolabira? He is unaware of many issues in Odisha. The administrative power is not in his hands anymore and today in the name of the chief minister, some selfish people are trying to looz Odisha” Senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya hit back at Dharmendra and said, “The allegations are baseless. They are levelling irrelevant charges against us since they know that their candidate’s defeat is imminent.”