Congress manifesto out, lists tainted ministers

BHUBANESWAR: Fight against corruption and devolution of power to the elected panchayat institutions are the main planks of the Congress for the panchayat polls, campaigning for which picked up during the week.  OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik released the Congress manifesto at a media conference here on Saturday. It promised that if the party returns to power, the government will delegate power to  panchayats in all the 29 subjects as per the 11th Schedule of the Constitution. The manifesto lists 14 ministers, including Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, against whom there are charges of irregularities, corruption and other wrong-doings. Naveen is said to be responsible for the mining scam, violations of forest and environment laws and irregularities in the Works Department. Besides, he was responsible for the ‘man-made’ floods which caused immense damage to life and property. The other ‘tainted’ are Finance Minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadei, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Surya Narayan Patro, Minister for Steel and Mines Raghunath Mohanty, Cooperation, Tourism and Culture Minister Prafulla Samal, Women and Child Development Minister Anjali Behera, Panchayati Raj Minister Maheswar Mohanty, Rural Development and Law Minister Bikram Arukh, Minister of State for Transport Sanjeeb Sahoo, Minister of State for Higher Education Badrinarayan Patra, Minister of State for Urban Development Sarada Prasad Nayak, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Pushpendra Singhdeo, Minister of State for Mass Education Pratap Jena and Minister of State for Energy Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak. There were allegations of Ghadei’s involvement in World Bank-funded Orissa Health System Development Project (OHSDP) irregularities, change of idols in the Biraja Temple and encroachment on Government land for setting up an engineering college in his son’s name.  The manifesto alleged that another senior minister Patro was involved in the irregularities in the purchase of China meters and the Bhubaneswar land scam. Samal finds himself in the dock for the irregularities in the purchase of pulses for mid-day meal (MDM) scheme while Raghunath has been named for allegedly trying to protect the accused in the Baliapal rape incident. The Congress has also demanded action against Anjali for her alleged involvement in the murder of Hindol block chairman   Nabaghana Sahu. The manifesto lists 26 ‘black spots’ during the 12-year BJD rule in the State, including the Pipili gangrape incident over which Agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy had to resign.