Pipili, Feb. 7: If the response to his campaign for the panchayat polls here is any indication, former Odisha agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy, who had to step down recently following allegations of having sheltered the accused in the Pipili gangrape case, has little to worry about the row.

As the MLA’s cavalcade wound its way through the villages of the constituency, which he has represented five times in the Assembly, the reception was overwhelming almost at every stop with garlands almost choking him and marigold petals showered by women and children peppering his hair.

The gangrape appeared to be a non-issue, almost forgotten. “We know him too well to believe in this kind of nonsense. Some vested interests might be trying to keep it alive but we are just not interested,” said 50-year-old Sanjukta Biswal at Adangapada as she tried to grab a vantage point to have a good look at the Biju Janata Dal strongman who was wearing a pink kurta.

Maharathy, a diabetic who kicked off his campaign after taking an insulin shot, himself made no mention of the incident during his impromptu speech at the village. But addressing the gathering on the cemented floor of Ma Kshetrapani temple he repeatedly invoked woman power. “This is your battle that I am fighting. You are Shakti, the ultimate source of power, and I need your blessings to win it for you,” he said, turning towards the elderly women listening to him with rapt attention.

The impact on women was instantaneous. “How can one even think of making false allegations against such a person?” asked Dhanu Biswal who described the charge of Mahrathy having harboured the gangrape accused preposterous. The sentiment was echoed village after village during the campaign with sympathetic men at Bankipohri pointing an accusing finger at the opposition for launching a smear campaign against their MLA. In the Delang area, a known stronghold of Maharathy, the people are convinced that the charges against thep former minister would boomerang on the Congress which is trying to make a fight of it. “ Now it is more than clear that the whole thing was masterminded by the Congress. The report of the State Women’s Commission has given our leader a clean chit. People are not fools, they will see through the opposition game,” said Dibakar Biswal at Delang market.