Debasish sees red in Mahtab's praise for Pradhan

Bhubaneswar: Politics over columns continues as another column by BJD's Lok Sabha MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, raining praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, invited criticism from his party spokesperson and Cuttack-Barabati MLA Debashish Samantray.

In the column published in a regional daily, where Mahtab is the editor, the MP opined people working with competency, honesty and loyalty were rewarded during reshuffle in the Modi Cabinet. Mahtab mentioned the names of Dharmendra Pradhan, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal as examples.

Pradhan and Goyal in their three years tenure have performed such works that would have, as per government procedure, taken nearly 10 years. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) is an example of Pradhan's success, wrote Mahtab.

However, Samantray has alleged Ujjwala Yojana is a failure. “The country has become backward by 10 years and the poor have become poorer. I think Mahtab has a very good relation with Dharmendra so he gave such a statement to hide the latter’s failure,” he added.