India News | Rift Widens in BJD, Another Minister Criticizes Khandapada MLA
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The rift within the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) further widened on Saturday with another minister asking the party's vice-president and Khandapada MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik to quit the outfit if he was keen on criticising the state government.
Bhubaneswar, Sep 9 (PTI) The rift within the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) further widened on Saturday with another minister asking the party's vice-president and Khandapada MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik to quit the outfit if he was keen on criticising the state government.
Addressing a press conference, industries and energy minister PK Deb asked Patnaik to resign from the party and then keep writing editorials in his Odia daily and give statements in television channels.
Patnaik had written an editorial in his Odia daily criticising Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's private secretary VK Pandian's whirlwind tours across Odisha at the cost of the public exchequer.
Deb was the third prominent BJD leader after MLA Arun Sahoo and Minister Atanu S Nayak to criticise the Khandapada MLA for his critical writings and TV statements, which they alleged were against BJD and the state government.
"Remaining in the party and criticising it through writeups and statements tantamount to blackmailing. Therefore, Khandapada MLA should resign from his party membership," Deb said.
Replying a question, Deb said Patnaik is a senior leader and knowledgeable person. "He should know what he is supposed to do. If he (Patnaik) thinks everything is wrong in the party and the government, he should resign," he said.
Patnaik was quick to reject Deb's remarks and said BJD was not anyone's parental property. "Therefore, there is no question of tendering resignation," he said and challenged the party leaders to sack him.
At the same time, Patnaik also rejected the BJD leaders' "blackmailing" slur against him. "It appears that they to do not understand the true meaning of the term. They should understand that someone is blackmailed if he has some weakness or needs to hide something," he said.
The lawmaker from Khandapada also said he had never indulged in anti-party activities. "I cannot understand how my editorials and writings are against the party's discipline. I am giving some suggestions to further strengthen the party and take corrective measures," the BJD legislator said, adding that the party is strong and popular in the state.
Meanwhile, the opposition BJP and Congress hailed Patnaik for speaking the "truth". BJP leader and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi said Patnaik has the courage to raise his voice at a time when all BJD leaders are behaving like helpless people.
Senior Congress leader and Jatni MLA Suresh Routray said Patnaik is doing the right thing by pointing out the weaknesses in the ruling party and the government.
Patnaik, the son-in-law of former chief minister JB Patnaik, was inducted in the BJD in March 2018 and got a party ticket for the Rajya Sabha seat on the same day. He later resigned from the Rajya Sabha and contested assembly election from Khandapada segment and won.
(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)