Odisha minister of state (MoS) for residence Dibya Shankar Mishra has continued to face the ire of the Opposition BJP and Congress over the Mamita Meher homicide case, though he has by no means been charged by the police within the matter.
During the just-concluded Assembly session, the Congress legislators staged a walkout from the House in protest when Speaker SN Patro allowed Mishra to make a press release on the prevailing legislation and order state of affairs within the state. Questioning the minister’s deal with, Narasingha Mishra, the Congress chief within the House, stated, “The police probed into the lady instructor (Mamita Meher)’s homicide case however didn’t examine into the minister’s involvement within the matter. Therefore, the investigation isn’t full.”
Meher was a younger instructor in a faculty in Mahaling village in Kalahandi district, who was killed allegedly by the college’s proprietor Gobinda Sahu in Otcober final yr. Meher labored as a warden within the faculty’s hostel.
Dibya Shankar Mishra got here underneath the cloud because the Opposition alleged his involvement within the Meher homicide case, charging that Sahu was his shut affiliate. Citing the photographs of them sharing a dais collectively, in addition they alleged that Mishra, a legislator from Junagarh constituency the place the college is situated, was shielding the prime accused. Though Sahu was arrested, the Opposition saved urgent for Mishra’s sacking from the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD ministry.
The police stated they didn’t discover any proof in opposition to Mishra to cost him within the crime. On his half, the minister additionally refuted all of the authority levelled in opposition to him as “fake and politically-motivated”.
The Assembly’s earlier session in December final yr was washed out over the Meher homicide case, because the House proceedings remained disrupted by sloganeering, blocking of gates, beating of gongs and bells, and sprinkling of gangajal and cow dung for “purification” by the BJP and Congress members. Their uproar compelled the winter session to be adjourned sine die on December 11 – 20 days forward of the schedule.
Th 53-year-old minister has nonetheless continued to obtain unwavering help from Patnaik and the BJD. Since the homicide case set off a political storm 5 months in the past, the CM has stood by him. Initially, Patnaik shared the stage with him at an occasion in Kalahandi, and later, through the winter session of the Assembly, he broke his silence over the row by issuing a video assertion, demanding proof in opposition to the minister concerning the Opposition’s opinion.
The help the BJD management has prolonged to Mishra is an acknowledgment of the numerous function he performs for the occasion dispensation within the state.
A two-time MLA from Junagarh, Mishra is credited with wresting this constituency from the Opposition. When he gained the seat in 2014 elections as a BJD candidate, it was the primary time that the occasion was capable of clinch the seat since 1951.
After successful his seat for the second time in 2019, Mishra gained prominence by visiting extraordinarily distant villages that had by no means witnessed the arrival of politicians. He was additionally inducted by Patnaik into his ministry.
According to the affidavit he filed with the Election Commission for the 2019 election, no felony complaints had been registered in opposition to him until then.
Born in Kalahandi, Mishra served within the Indian Air Force as a personnel of the Short Service Commission for 10 years. In 2003, he joined the Chattisgarh authorities’s aviation division because the chief pilot underneath the Raman Singh-led BJP authorities. In the 2009 Odisha polls, he had reportedly tried to contest from Kalahandi as a BJP candidate however did not get the occasion ticket regardless of Singh’s backing.
BJD sources say Mishra is among the many occasion leaders who’re a part of the CM’s internal circle. “Mishra is young and relatively new to politics, but he shows a lot of promise. He broke into an Opposition bastion (Junagarh) which was not ours, that itself speaks volumes about him. He can be trusted by the party and is an extremely disciplined legislator,” sources said. “The party is very strict with its principles and takes strong action against those who do not follow these principles. But in this matter (Meher murder case) it was mere talk without any evidence to support it.”
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
