BHUBANESWAR: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will not be part of the delegation comprising West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee which is likely to meet President Pranab Mukherjee over the demonetisation issue.
"BJD will not participate in the call given by Mamata Banerjee to meet President of India to oppose demonetisation," BJD spokersperson Pratap Deb told mediapersons here. Mamata had called upon all opposition political parties including the CPI(M) to unite against the Centre's decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.
"The President has agreed to meet representatives of political parties on November 16 or 17 where we will brief him in detail on the grim situation," she had said in a tweet.
Meanwhile, the BJD parliamentary party leader Bhatruhari Mahatab also maintained that the party has welcomed the move of the Centre. "But we will raise the difficulties faced by the common people and ask what steps the Centre will take to ensure they do not face difficulties," he said.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has already announced his support for demonetisation move of the Centre. He has, however, asked the Centre to take steps to ensure that people in rural and unbanked areas are not put to difficulty.
Mahatab said BJD will keep its view in the all party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Monday and parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar tomorrow.
Besides the demonetisation issue, the BJD will raise several other issues including Mahanadi river water dispute with Chhattisgarh and the Polavaram dam issue. The GST issue will also be raised in the Parliament by the BJD. The Odisha government has announced its support for GST with some riders.