‘Mu Hero Mu Odisha’ draws flak

Bhubaneswar/Cuttack: The Opposition Congress and BJP Monday ridiculed the government’s Mu Hero Mu Odisha campaign describing it as just a political gimmick.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the campaign in Cuttack Monday. The campaign seeks to recognise talented youths. Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Niranjan Patnaik said the youths of Odisha were the most neglected and deprived group in the last 18 years of BJD rule.
Pointing out that there are around three lakh unemployed graduates in the state, he said, “Odisha government has abolished many posts in its departments and many are vacant. They are not being filled up. But the government has formed the Biju Yuva Bahini and are making fools of the state’s youth.”
A government which had been silent all these 18 years has now become active ahead of the general elections, and is playing with the future of the youth, Patnaik said, adding, “It is going to make our youth a big ‘zero’ instead of ‘hero’.”
Similarly, the BJP also labelled the campaign as ‘politically motivated’ and accused the government of playing with the emotions of youths.
“Mu Hero Mu Odisha might be the slogan of the BJD government for the upcoming general elections, but it has no connection with the hopes of Odia youths,” said state BJP vice-president Samir Mohanty. But former minister and BJD spokesperson Arun Sahoo rejected the allegations saying the campaign is one of the means to attract youths towards social service. “It has become a tendency of the Opposition to blame the government on each and every issue,” he said.