Dilip Ray again bats for Bharat Ratna to Biju Patnaik

BJP MLA from Rourkela, Dilip Ray, who was with late Biju Patnaik during his last days, has been pressing for Bharat Ratna to be bestowed on the legend. He has lamented the dissent in certain sections in Odisha over this issue, saying “making a controversy around Biju Babu is an assault on the dignity of Odias”.

“Even though Odisha has many deserving sons of the soil who are fit to get Bharat Ratna, nobody from the state has been conferred with the highest civilian honour of the country so far. We all demand Bharat Ratna for legends such as Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das, Utkal Gaurav Madhusudan Das and Utkal Keshari Dr. Harekrushna Mahtab. But, showing opposition towards the move to bestow the award on Biju Babu, is not acceptable,” he said.

“The role of Biju Patnaik in setting up of Rourkela steel plant is indisputable. There was a decision to set up a steel plant with the help of technological inputs from the erstwhile West Germany. Experts from West Germany were in favor of establishing it in Bihar. However, Biju Babu managed to persuade Pandit Nehru and succeeded in bringing experts from West Germany to Rourkela. He wanted the plant to be set up in Rourkela. Although German experts had decided to set up the plant in Bihar, Biju Babu brought them to Rourkela to present his case. They stayed in Panposh circuit house. Biju Babu apprised them of the facilities available in Rourkela like availability of water, proximity to mineral rich areas and nearby railway links. When the experts were examining the map in a meeting, a snake made its way into the hall. When the experts caught sight of it, they threw the map aside and climbed up the table. Biju Babu overpowered the snake and took it outside of the room. By the time he returned to the room, the experts had rolled up the map. A surprised Biju Babu asked them the reason to which they replied that they had decided to set up plant in the state as they had had caught a glimpse of the bravery of the people of the state. I have listened this story from Biju Babu himself and my grandfather Shri Nilamani Routray. Had Biju Babu not impressed upon Nehru to bring the experts to Rourkela and had he not chased the snake away, Rourkela steel plant wouldn’t have been here. It is more important at whose effort the plant was set up than who laid the foundation stone or who inaugurated the first blast furnace”, said Mr. Ray.

“Rourkela engineering college too was established as a result of the relentless efforts of Biju babu. He wanted more officers and engineers to be employed at RSP and that’s why he set up the REC. It paved the way for more employment for the youth. People of Rourkela will never forget Biju Babu as long as RSP and REC are here,” he added.

“I believe that more and more people should get “Bharat Ratna from our state and we should strive collectively to this end. But the present demand of “Bharat Ratna for Biju Babu should not be sabotaged. We all should unanimously support t he demand for “Bharat Ratna” for Shri Biju Pattnaik,” he concluded.