Attacked over lawlessness, CM Naveen Patnaik counters Opposition

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday hit back at the Opposition parties over their ‘lawlessness’ allegations, saying if the law and order situation was not under control, then the state wouldn’t have attracted the highest investments in the country. 

“When the Opposition talks about lawlessness, they should keep these facts in mind. I have attended so many Make In Odisha conclaves. Whenever an investor meets me, the first remark he makes is what a peaceful State Odisha is. We are happy to come and invest because of the law and order situation and the peaceful nature of the State. No investor comes for investing his hard-earned money if law and order situation is not good. Odisha attracts, as all of you know, huge investments because it is a peaceful State,” he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress have recently been mounting attacks on the BJD-led dispensation over ‘officer raj’ and ‘lawlessness’ in the state. 

Earlier in the day, the Leader of Opposition (LoP), Jayanarayan Mishra and Congress Legislature Party leader, Narasingha Mishra lambasted the government alleging lawlessness in the state. 

Referring to the Naba Das murder case, the LoP said while the real motive behind the murder is yet to be ascertained, the police are only eager to project prime accused Gopal Das as mentally ill. In the Police department, there is complete anarchy. Nobody is in a position to listen to anyone, he said. 

Congress Legislature party leader, Mishra said there is ‘jungle raj’ in the State with the Naba Das murder case being the best example of this lawlessness.

(Reported by Harihar Chand, OTV)