India News | BJD MLA, Minister Accuse Party Vice-president of 'blackmailing' Party
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. All is not well in Odisha's ruling BJD headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as at least two MLAs including a minister have come down heavily on a senior vice-president of the party and accused him of "blackmailing" the regional party.
Bhubaneswar, Sep 8 (PTI) All is not well in Odisha's ruling BJD headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as at least two MLAs including a minister have come down heavily on a senior vice-president of the party and accused him of "blackmailing" the regional party.
A day after BJD MLA Arun Sahoo accused his party vice-president and Khandapada MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik of blackmailing the party, Higher Education Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak on Friday trained his gun at him for his alleged statements against the party.
Alleging that the Khandapada MLA is making anti-party statements, the minister said, "You the journalists know better than me who Soumya Ranjan Patnaik (SRP) is and how many parties he has changed and where he will go in the coming days."
"He is blackmailing the party while remaining within its fold. He, however, cannot achieve his target. Earlier, he had tried to blackmail the party. Even today, he is using ‘blackmail' as his tool against the party. His activities would hardly affect the party because people know Soumya Babu very well," the minister said.
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Referring to Soumya Ranjan Patnaik's write up in a Odia daily and statements in some television channels, Nayak said he does not see anything wrong if the CMO takes feedback from people as directed by the chief minister himself. "What is wrong in it? What trouble did it cause to Soumya Babu?" Nayak asked.
Around a fortnight ago, the MLA in a write up had mentioned on the whirlwind tour of VK Pandian, the private secretary to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He had also drawn a parallel between the expenditure made on the officer's flight charges with the amount spent on the launching of Chandrayan-3.
On Thursday, Nayagarh MLA Arun Sahu had also slammed the Khandapada MLA saying he has been disoriented for the last few months and he is telling all these things against the BJD after failing to become a minister.
In response to the Nayagarh MLA's statement, SRP said, "In my editorial, I had written ‘Aatmabibhor Prashasak and Asahaya Rajaneta (Jubilant Administrator and Helpless Politician) and the former minister and the present Nayagarh MLA has proved my article. The entire speech of Arun Babu has provided proof of a helpless politician."
On Higher Education Minister's statement, SRP said, "They lack words for which they (Sahoo and Nayak) are using the single word ‘Blackmailing' repeatedly. I don't want to increase their importance by answering to what they said. I don't think, they are saying these things on their own. I suppose someone is exerting them to say so. They have no option but to obey him as they would lose their source of earning."
“One (Sahoo), who has lost his ministerial berth, has said about the ministerial berth. And another (Nayak) one is speaking so in fear of losing his ministerial berth. They are so helpless that they are bound to say what they have been asked to say," he said.
"I am speaking for the interest of the party. I am speaking for the betterment of the BJD and the state," SRP said.
Replying a question on the allegation of frequent change of party, SRP said the change of decision is a common process. "Naveen Babu is changing his decisions in every 15 days. In 2019, he had said the party would oppose the Centre. But what happened at the time of election? Decisions change according to circumstances and it is a common process," he said.
Meanwhile, BJP stalwart and leader of Opposition Jayanarayan Mishra has come to the rescue of SRP. "The issues he (SRP) has been raising are appropriate. He said the money spent on the secretary's visit to all districts is equal to the money spent on Chandrayaan-3 which is a matter of concern. And the money given unofficially to people to bring them to meeting places also needs to be investigated and strict action should be taken against Pandian".
Mishra said the people of Odisha have nothing to do with how SR Patnaik allegedly blackmailed the BJD. "But, the people have right to know the issues raised by SRP," he said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)