By Our Correspondent
BHUBANSWAR/NEW DELHI: From Union PNG-Steel Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan to Party’s National VP-Spokesperson Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda to State Chief Samir Mohanty , all busy for Union Home Minister Amit Shah”s ”virtual rally” in Odisha on Monday.
The Home Minister will essentially seek to highlight various measures taken by the Narendra Modi government for the development of Odisha and welfare of its people during the last six years, he said. State BJP president Samir Mohanty had earlier said that the virtual rally aimed at reaching out to people and inform them about the Centre”s achievements in the first year of its second term and steps taken to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dubbing the holding of the rally a “crime” at a time when the country is fighting the coronavirus pandemic, senior Congress leader and MLA Suresh Kumar Routray on Sunday said a complaint needs to be registered against Shah for not following rules.
It is “illegal to organise such an event” during the COVID-19 crisis which has prompted the imposition of lockdown and shutdown. Shah should not be allowed to hold the rally just because he is the Union Home Minister, he said. “We are abiding by the lockdown norms but the rule makers are not following the restrictions themselves,” he added.
Accusing the BJP-led Central government of being responsible for the spread of COVID-19, the Congress leader claimed that lakhs of migrants had to suffer because of the Centres “inefficiency and inability” to handle the coronavirus situation.
In a desperate bid to escape starvation, a large number of migrants who were stranded in different parts of the country due to the lockdown returned to Odisha through various means, even by walking, putting their lives at danger, he said.Slamming the BJD government in the state, he said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had promised that 15,000 COVID tests will be conducted daily, but only a few thousands of tests day are being done per day.
Hitting back at Routray, state BJP general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said Congress will probably take five more years to learn the exact meaning of a virtual rally. “We will take Congress leaders seriously only when they make comments after properly understanding the meaning of a virtual rally,” he said. The BJP has set a target to connect with around one crore people through various social media platforms and people can participate in the rally by staying at home, he added.
