KENDRAPARA: THE rift between Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and senior BJP leader and former Minister Bijoy Mohapatra appears to be widening as the latter and his supporters skipped the ‘Misran Parva’ here on Sunday.
Though the bickering between the two leaders has been quite common in the recent past, the noticeable absence of Mohapatra and his supporters, including BJP district unit president Sukanta Diwedi, from the meeting has raised many eyebrows.
Former Odisha Gana Parishad MLA from the district Utkal Keshari Parida and former Congress MLA of Aul Dolagobinda Nayak joined the BJP along with their supporters in the presence of Pradhan.
Welcoming the leaders into the saffron fold, Pradhan said they will help strengthen the BJP in the district. He, however, refused to say anything about the absence of Mohapatra and Diwedi.
Some local BJP leaders and proteges of Mohapatra trained their guns on Pradhan as they were not consulted by the State BJP leaders before admitting the former MLAs into the BJP. They also claimed that Mohapatra was not invited to the meeting by Pradhan and other BJP leaders. “We boycotted the meeting as Mohapatra was not invited to the meeting on his home turf. Of the 10 BJP Zilla Parishad members, five also skipped the meeting,” said Diwedi.
Speaking at the meeting, Pradhan blamed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for growing corruption and lawlessness in the State. Scaling up his battle against the BJD supremo, he predicted a defeat for the regional party in the 2019 poll.
“People are fed up with the BJD Government. Our party is highlighting the Government’s slipshod attitude towards the welfare of rural people. Voters have already expressed their anger in the panchayat election by electing more BJP candidates in different Zilla Parishad zones,” Pradhan said.
Pradhan claimed that the BJD Government had been hoodwinking gullible people on its `1-a-kg rice scheme. While the Centre provides `29 per kg, the State Government contributes only `2, he said.
After demonetisation, around `750 crore was deposited in Jan Dhan accounts of poor people in the State. It was ill gotten money of some corrupt BJD leaders who had collected it from ponzi firms and illegal mining activities, Pradhan added.
Prior to the meeting, some banners and posters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pradhan were set on fire by unknown miscreants at several places in the coastal town on Saturday night.
SP Dayanidhi Gochayat said a case has been registered following a complaint by BJP leader Umakanta Patnaik. Five Congress supporters were detained at Tinimuhani Chowk in Kendrapara town while they were trying to show black flags to Pradhan, he added.