The State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the Biju Janata Dal’s organising secretary Pranab Prakash Das, also known as Bobby Das, over his ‘ready to be a slave’ remark.
After being severely censured for standing like a ‘security guard’ at the circuit house in Nabarangpur where 5T secretary V K Pandian was holding a grievance hearing meeting and ruckus over ‘officer raj’ in Odisha Legislative Assembly, Bobby Das on Saturday held a press conference in Nabarangpur to put his points across.
He said, “I am willing to serve not only as a security guard but also as a slave of the people of Odisha.”
The BJP on Sunday trained its guns on Das. Addressing a press meet in Bhubaneswar, BJP’s state general secretary Golak Mohapatra said, “He (Bobby Das) said he is willing to serve as a slave. This way of thinking suggests that they (BJD) want to take the Odisha people to the British era once again when there used to be slavery.”
“It can be understood from what he said that he has a ‘feudal mindset’. It seems to me that they would never succeed in their machination to take Odisha to that period of the British era,” Mohapatra said.
“While allowing people to the grievance hall in Nabarangpur, Bobby babu said CMO has come. I want to know who CMO is. Once an MLA said 5T is a vision. Now, how a vision can be CMO?” he asked.
“He (Bobby Das) is saying he goes everywhere. If he is talented, then why he hasn’t been given any ministerial berth? This suggests the Chief Minister doesn’t make talented people his ministers. It is unfortunate he is stooping so low to save his job,” he added.
Senior Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati too launched a scathing attack on Bobby Das. He said, “We are elected public representatives. As per the guidelines laid out, an MLA is always above a bureaucrat. The former commands much more respect than the latter. A minister should never go to a bureaucrat.”
(Reported by Soumya Ranjan Sahoo, OTV)