Bhubaneswar, July 27 — After the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the opposition parties in Odisha have intensified the demand for the resignation of state School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond over the school textbook error issue in the state.
Speaking to media persons on Sunday, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) President Bhakta Charan Das said that if the state government does not take any action over the demand for the resignation of Gond in the next seven days, Congress will call for the Odisha Bandh.
"If Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union Education Minister, can resign over a question paper leak, then why shouldn't the Education Minister here resign after committing a much bigger mistake?" Das asked.
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Pradip Kumar Dishari also reiterated the regional party's demand for the resignation of School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond over the large-scale publication errors found in the newly published textbooks for Classes 1 to 8 in Odisha.
Meanwhile, State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary Biranchi Narayan Tripathy accused both opposition parties -- BJD and Congress -- of indulging in political opportunism.
He alleged that the Congress, having been rejected by the people, was now trying to revive its political fortunes by exploiting the concerns of students.
Tripathy questioned the Congress' moral authority, asking how many of its leaders had resigned over repeated question paper leak incidents during its tenure in Odisha between 1995 and 2000.
He also referred to the Congress-led UPA government's tenure at the Centre from 2004 to 2014, alleging that corruption and irregularities, including in the education sector, were rampant but no leader accepted moral responsibility by stepping down.
He questioned why Congress leaders remained silent over recent question paper leak incidents in Congress-ruled Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.
Tripathy also targeted the BJD, asking how many of its leaders had resigned on moral grounds despite several corruption allegations during its tenure in power in Odisha.
Tripathy countered that both the Congress and the BJD should first introspect and address questions about their own moral accountability before lecturing others.