BHUBANESWAR: The luncheon meeting between Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday at Naveen Niwas on the occasion of Make In Odisha conclave has given rise to allegation of a secret understanding between the BJD and the BJP.
Besides, the praise showered on Odisha Government by the Union Ministers has led the main opposition Congress to allege that the BJD and the BJP are in a mock fight at the State level.
Six days back at the Janajagaran Mahasamabesh organised by the BJP here, national president of the party Amit Shah had given a call to party leaders and workers to throw away the Naveen Patnaik Government in the 2019 elections and show a trailer in the panchayat polls next year.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Narasingh Mishra said the questions asked by Shah to the CM has been replied by the Union Finance Minister. “It is now for the State party to say who is correct, Amit Shah or Arun Jaitley,” he said.
This has also proved the allegation of Congress that there is a secret understanding between the BJD and the BJP. The two parties are busy in a mock fight in the State, he said.
However, both the BJP and the BJD downplayed the matter. “Lunch was only a courtesy visit by Jaitley in keeping with the tradition of Odisha,” State BJP president Basant Panda said. There was no politics in the lunch meeting between the two leaders and it will have no impact on BJP’s organisation in Odisha, he said.
Senior BJP leader Sajjan Sharma said there is a difference between the party and the Government. There is no confusion about this among the BJP workers, he said.
BJD spokesperson Amar Prasad Satpathy also said there was no politics in the lunch meeting between the two leaders. Many Central leaders have had lunch at Naveen Niwas in the past, he added.