In reacting to resignation of Pradip Maharathi from the Council of Ministers in the context of Pipili gang rape case, Opposition stalwart Bijay Mohapatra has asked: if Maharathi has resigned on moral ground, where has gone the morality of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who despite being the Home Minister has not acted against the crime since 2008?
PCC President Niranjan Patnaik has termed Maharathi’s resignation as a drama enacted to save the CM’s skin.
The crime was committed in 2008 and since then the criminals are not punished. Even though the criminals are alleged to have gang raped the Pipili girl to the extent of suffocating her into coma under violent brutality in their nefarious design to eliminate every possibility of her deposition in the court, the police refused to act and the Home department controlled by the CM continued to ignore its responsibility in the matter. Therefore, if any body should quit on moral ground, more than Maharathi, it is the Chief-cum-Home Minister Naveen Patnaik, points out the PCC chief.