During an interview with reporters, Pramila Mallik, the Revenue Minister in the State of Odisha, explained that raising a slogan such as “Go Back Andhra” will not negatively impact the government in Andhra Pradesh. It would not have been necessary for the case to stay on the schedule for such a long time if that had been the case.”
Earlier today, the ruling BJD attempted to inflame the Kotia controversy further by ridiculing the slogan ‘Go Back Andhra’, which was formulated by chief minister Dharmendra Pradhan. A top official from the state Revenue Department, Pramila Mallik, told reporters that raising slogans such as “Go Back Andhra” will not be detrimental to the government in Andhra Pradesh. This would have resulted in a case not spending so long under appeal in the first place.”
A mediator should be appointed by the central government in order to resolve the Kotia issue between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. “I do not believe that blaming the Odisha government alone will lead to anything being accomplished,” she stated in an interview.
To this, the Union Education Minister and BJP leader, Dharmendra Pradhan replied, “If somebody stands at the border and claims a part of Odisha as theirs, I will say ‘Get Back’ again and again.”
The BJD can be a politically useful alliance for Kotia, however, there is a need to resolve the issue first before we can achieve that. My last letter to the Chief Minister was several years ago, and I haven’t written to him in quite some time. In his speech, Pradhan stressed the need to deal with the problem as soon as possible.
As part of Utkal Dibasa, Pradhan, during his visit to a controversial Kotia village cluster in Koraput, informed officials of the Andhra Pradesh government on the spot that Kotia belongs exclusively to Odisha.