We now know sacrifice of many national heroes: CM

New Delhi: Odisha government will set up memorials and make a biopic on the life of ‘Utkal Keshari’ Harekrushna Mahtab, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced on Thursday, saying the society now knows the contributions of many national heroes, and not “just one family”.

Majhi made veiled reference to Nehru-Gandhi family while addressing an event at Vigyan Bhavan here to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Harekrushna Mahtab, the first chief minister of Orissa (now Odisha).

President Droupadi Murmu was the chief guest at the event hosted by the Ministry of Culture where a special commemorative stamp and coin were released along with a few books.

Mahtab was the last prime minister of the province of Orissa. The province of Bihar and Orissa was carved out of Bengal in 1912 before Orissa became a separate State in 1936. After Independence, it became part of the Union of India.

Stating that this landmark tribute is being paid to Mahtab 37 years after his demise, Majhi said without taking any name, “For a long period, we were only engaged in recognising the contributions of just one family. It happened throughout the country and it also happened in Odisha.”

“But Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed all this and we now know the contributions of many more national heroes than just one family,” he said.”In Odisha too, we are now ready to worship all our heroes who made significant contributions to nation building,” the Chief Minister added.

Hailing Mahtab for his contributions, Majhi said he established Hirakund dam and was instrumental in the decision to shift the State capital capital from Cuttack to Bhubaneswar. “He was a statesman, a visionary, a genius political thinker and a strategist and mentor to many young leaders who later became big names in State politics. Besides his contributions to politics, he also inspired a generation of Odia writers and journalists,” the Chief Minister said.