Odisha Panchayati Raj and Agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy resigned from the cabinet on Sunday, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the state government of failing to ensure justice for the victim of Pipli gang rape case.
In the infamous Pipli gang-rape and murder case, a 19-year-old Dalit girl was raped in 2011 and died in a coma in 2012 sparking a state-wide furore over the incident.
This was the second time Maharathy had to resign in the same case, having resigned earlier on January 19, 2012 after being accused of shielding the accused. He again became a minister after the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) returned to power in 2014.
He was asked to resign this time after his remarks on the acquittal of the accused. On December 24, 2018, the court of additional district judge in Bhubaneswar had acquitted Prashanta and Sukanta Pradhan, the two brothers accused in the case.
Reacting to the court judgement, Maharathy said, “Truth has prevailed. Bebina (the victim) has got justice.”
The grossly insensitive comment had unleashed a wave of protests across the state with the women’s wings of the Congress and the BJP at the forefront. Activists of the Mahila Congress and BJP Mahila Morcha had gheraoed the official residence of the minister, thrown eggs and tomatoes at the house and had marched to Naveen Nivas, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s residence demanding Maharathy’s resignation. A subsequent apology tendered by the minister had failed to deter the Opposition parties and women’s organisations, who continued staging protests. Maharathy’s continuation in the cabinet was becoming increasingly untenable with each passing day as things were becoming terribly embarrassing for Chief Minister Patnaik.
Though Maharathy said on Sunday that he was ‘under no pressure’ and had resigned to save the party any embarrassment, sources say he put in his papers only after a nudge from Patnaik, who also happens to be the state Home Minister. Reacting to Modi’s comment, the Chief Minister had said his government was “following the case vigorously”.
Though some observers are attributing the resignation of Maharathy to the PM’s nudge, it is more likely that the Chief Minister asked him to resign after realising that his continuation in the cabinet was making things difficult for him at a time when he is busy wooing women voters, who have been one of the major factors for Patnaik’s repeated electoral victories in the past. After advocating 33% reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies, Odisha Chief Minister had launched a scheme to provide interest-free loans and a host of other benefits to women self-help groups (SHGs) at Puri on Saturday.
All eyes will now be on whether the Pipli strongman would get the party ticket to contest from the constituency he has represented in the Assembly six times since 1985. Though he had to resign in January, 2012 barely eight months after becoming minister for the first time, he got the BJD ticket to contest from Pipli in the 2014 elections.
