Bhubaneswar, March 7 -- Opposition BJD legislators on Friday urged Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati to reverse the executive order of the state government shifting Panchayat Raj Diwas from March 5 to April 24.
In a memorandum to the Governor, the BJD legislature stated that the Odisha Cabinet in 1993 had decided to observe Biju Babu's birthday on March 5 as Panchayat Raj Diwas, considering his contribution to strengthening the Panchayati Raj institutions in the state.
It was the first celebration of Panchayat Raj Diwas in the entire country, and for the last 31 years, the state has been observing it-even during the Congress rule from 1995 to 2000 and the BJD-BJP coalition government from 2000 to 2009-to promote the empowerment of the...