JOIN US Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s remark on successful agitation by tribals in Odisha’s Niyamgiri hills at the recently held farmers’ rally in New Delhi has triggered a fresh political debate in the state.
The Naveen Patnaik-led ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has reacted strongly to Gandhi’s statement.
“He had said that he would be the soldier of the tribals and fight their cause. But they (tribals) have totally rejected him and his party,” the regional outfit’s spokesperson, Samir Das said.
He was obviously referring to the Congress drubbing in Odisha in the last Lok Sabha elections where the party, for the first time, failed to open its account.
The Congress faced humiliating defeat in the hands of BJD in all the tribal dominated Lok Sabha seats earlier considered to be the party’s citadel.
The BJD spokesperson also questioned the timing of Gandhi’s remark. “It is surprising why he raised the Niyamgiri issue so late that too at a farmers’ rally,” Das said.
DH News Service