BHUBANESWAR: The ensuing General Elections promise to be nothing like what happened in the past in Odisha. On a day when Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced to contest from a second Assembly segment, the BJP claimed that the decision was based on an Intelligence report and even produced a document purported to be a letter issued by a senior Intelligence Wing officer.
The State Police Headquarters dismissed the claim of BJP and refuted preparing an assessment report of Assembly constituencies. An FIR was also registered in Kharavela Nagar police station in this connection basing on the report of SP, Special Branch Kartikeswar Samal terming the letter fake and fabricated.The FIR stated that there is no section in the Intelligence Directorate as SIB Political Desk. “The letter has not been issued from any of the offices of Intelligence Directorate. The purported letter has been manipulated and fabricated,” it added.
The letter, according to the national party, cautioned the Chief Minister about the prevailing condition in Hinjili Assembly segment where Naveen has been contesting since 2000. It advised at least four alternative seats, one of which was Bijepur.
Interestingly, a similar incident was reported during Karnataka Assembly elections in May last year when a purported Intelligence report surfaced, warning the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah against contesting from Chamundeshwari Assembly segment. The report had also suggested alternatives for the former Karnataka Chief Minister.
What is strikingly similar about these two is the letter no SIB-PD(CMO) 364. The year, though, is different. “The use of words and phrasing in the Karnataka case is also very close to the purported report that was circulated on Monday. This could be a copycat incident,” sources said and added that the BJP could be as much a victim of it as the BJD is.