Nominate Western Orissa candidates for Rajya Sabha

Following is a report from expressbuzz.com:

BHUBANESWAR,: The Kosal Kranti Dal (KKD) has threatened to step up its demand for a separate Koshal state if candidates from the Western Orissa districts are ignored for the Rajya Sabha seats by political parties. 

Elections to three vacant seats will be held on June 17.  

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has announced that it will field candidates for all the three seats.  

While Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced the candidature of party ideologue Pyarimohan Mohapatra, lobbying for the other two seats has gained momentum.  

Anticipating that this time also the claims of the Western Orissa districts will be ignored, KKD president Pramod Kumar Mishra alleged that leaders from these districts are always neglected by the political parties.  

He said that former Speaker Kishore Mohanty who was nominated by the BJD for a by-election after the resignation of Baijayant Panda from the Lok Sabha also belongs to coastal districts.  

Alleging that other political parties, including Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), also always neglect leaders from Western Orissa, Mishra said that while Manmohan Samal was rehabilitated by the BJP in the Rajya Sabha after his defeat in Assembly elections, another State BJP president Suresh Pujari was never considered.  

Mishra said that after the success of Congress in Western Orissa districts in the Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections, it was expected that MPs from these areas will find place in the Central Cabinet. But Congress also ignored the claims of Western Orissa MPs and inducted an MP from coastal Orissa in the ministry, he said.  

Stating that BJD has always functioned as a political party representing the interests of only coastal Orissa, the KKD alleged that till now the headquarters of the Western Orissa Development Council (WODC) is yet to be shifted to these districts.  

The State Government has also failed to solve problems afflicting the Western Orissa districts including suicide by a large number of farmers, distress sale of paddy, sale of girl child and migration of labourers, he said adding that these had exposed the step-motherly attitude of the authorities towards the region.  

Even though lawyers from the area are agitating for establishment of a permanent bench of the High Court in Western Orissa, no decision has been taken in this regard so far, he said.