BHUBANESWAR: A day after the ruling BJD demanded Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram’s resignation for allegedly filing a false affidavit on election expenditure, the senior tribal leader from the State said he will resign if the charges against him are proved.
Terming the BJD’s allegations as baseless and politically motivated, the Union Minister said he is ready to face any probe and resign if the allegations against him are found to be true.
“The Chief Minister should resign first on moral grounds as it is evident from a preliminary investigation that he and his party have committed serious irregularities by filing false affidavits before the Election Commission,” Oram said.
Accusing the Chief Minister of trying to cover up his fault by levelling similar allegation against him, Oram told a media conference in New Delhi that the evil design of the BJD will not succeed.
“I stand by the affidavit filed by me before the Election Commission. All my poll related expenditures mentioned in the affidavit are true to my knowledge and based on facts. I have done nothing wrong and there are no irregularities in the affidavit,” Oram said.
The Union Minister dared the Chief Minister to register a complaint against him on the alleged irregularities in poll expenses either in the court of law or before the Election Commission.
Coming down heavily on the Chief Minister for accusing BJP of hatching a conspiracy against him, Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said the case pending before Orissa High Court is not filed by his party.
The public perception is that the Chief Minister is presiding over a corrupt government and the chit fund money has been routed to the BJD account. It is the job of the government to prove its innocence, he said.
State BJP vice-president Sameer Mohanty alleged that the BJD is even violating the constitutional norms to prove the allegations wrong. He said the ruling party is trying to deviate the issue by questioning the credibility of the media and the judiciary.
Mohanty said his party will build up a massive public movement against the BJD Government which has failed the people on all fronts in the last 17 years of its rule.