BHUBANESWAR: Even as the BJP on Saturday stepped up campaign against Minister of State for Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Sanjay Dasburma over his alleged links with the scam tainted chit fund company Artha Tatwa (AT) Group, Rajya Sabha member Pyarimohan Mohapatra, who was once close to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, described him as a ‘small fish’.
“Many big fishes in the BJD are involved in the chit fund scam. They (the big fish) are trying to protect each other,” Mohapatra said and added, “Dasburma is a small fish.”
BJD MP Kalikesh Singhdeo on Saturday said the Chief Minister will decide on the issue. “If any decision is taken in this regard, it will be announced by the Chief Minister,” he said.
Meanwhile, State BJP vice-president Samir Mohanty alleged that the Minister had allotted a plot of land to a relative in Kolathia area on the outskirts of the City in 2009 when he was the chairman of the Odisha State Housing Board (OSHB). Besides, how the Minister acquired two plots of land in Chandaka Industrial Estate in his own name, he questioned.
Mohanty demanded that the Minister should resign owning moral responsibility and face an inquiry.
Meanwhile, two BJD MPs Tathagat Satpathy and Pinaki Mishra met the Chief Minister at his Secretariat chamber separately giving rise to speculations over the issue. Sources said the Chief Minister has started consultations with party leaders to take a decision on the matter.