When Odisha agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy, invoked the name of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri as the "inspiration" behind his resignation on moral grounds yesterday, there were loud guffaws in the state's political circles.
Maharathy, who was accused of harbouring some of the rape accused in the alleged gangrape of a 18-year-old dalit girl, finally put down his papers amid increasing demand of Opposition parties and women's organisations for his scalp.
The 18-year-old dalit girl of Arjunagoda village in Pipili block of Puri district was allegedly gangraped by some local youth on November 28, 2011 when she had gone out for morning ablutions. After the gangrape, the assailants allegedly tried to strangulate her, which left the girl's cerebral cortex damaged leaving her in a state of coma.
"I resigned to save my party and the image of my chief minister like Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned after rail mishap. I am not a coward, I am a stalwart. I am ready to face any inquiry,” Maharathy said after his resignation.
Politicians and political observers said Maharathy comparing himself to Shastri could not be more ludicrous considering that Maharathy has the maximum number of criminal cases pending against him among all the 147 MLAs.
"It is the most laughable comparison I have heard in long time. How can Maharathy compare himself to Shastri? Maharathy has the maximum number of criminal cases pending against him among all the sitting MLAs. Shastri resigned on moral grounds immediately after the railway mishap in Mahboobnagar while Maharathy had to be forced out by CM. If at all anyone has to resign, it is the CM who should resign," said state BJP vice-president Ashok Sahu.
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