Bhubaneswar, June 15: Union minister of state for heavy industries and public enterprises Babul Supriyo today made light of the recent egg attacks on visiting central ministers in Odisha, by saying: "I will make omelettes if eggs are hurled at me".
The minister, who is here to attend the Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas event, said this while responding to a question on eggs being hurled at two Union ministers -Radhamohan Singh and Jual Oram - in the recent past.
"The BJD has been left panic-stricken that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is sending his ministers to states to reach out to the people at the grassroots level. The BJD is afraid that we will expose its corrupt practices. That is why it is resorting to egg attacks. However, I am not afraid of such attacks. If someone hurls eggs at me, I will catch the egg and make an omelette... I am a non-vegetarian," said Supriyo.
The minister alleged that funds allocated under the central government-sponsored schemes were being siphoned off by the state.
He accused both the Congress and the BJD of posing hindrances to the development of the state.
However, hours after his statement, Bhadrak police detained eight Congress activists for trying to wave black flags at his convoy. The police seized eggs from the activists as well.
Supriyo was in Bhadrak to attend an event and will visit Balasore tomorrow to popularise the initiatives taken by the NDA government during its three years of rule.
In protest against the egg attack on Oram, the BJP today called a partial strike in Sundargarh district tomorrow. Yesterday, the BJD activists threw eggs at Oram's cavalcade at Aul in Kendrapara, while the Congress activists - led by MLA Debendra Sharma - had waved black flags at him.
In Sundargarh, the strike will be observed between 7am and 1pm tomorrow. The BJP will, however, spare emergency services, such as health care and bank services, from the purview of the protest.
The BJP today demanded arrest of the people involved in the incident under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
A delegation of the party will also meet Governor S.C. Jamir in this regard. The BJP has lodged a complaint at Aul police station against 22 persons for the attack.
Oram had faced resistance from the Congress and the BJD over the Mahanadi water-sharing row.
On June 10, the police arrested four members of state Youth Congress, including its state working president Lokanath Maharathy, for allegedly hurling eggs and waving black flags at Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh near the State Guest House in Bhubaneswar.
