BHUBANESWAR: The BJD on Monday continued its attack on the state BJP alleging that it is trying to protect the Congress by taking a stand contrary to its Central leadership on the issue of income tax raids on the premises of liquor baron Dhiraj Sahu.
Party spokespersons Lenin Mohanty and Sofia Alam told mediapersons that the seized money of over Rs 350 crore was meant to be used in the Chhattisgarh election. But the money could not be transferred to Chhattisgarh for some reason and was seized in the I-T raids. “The question remains why the state BJP is trying to bail out the Congress and what benefit it will have by doing so,” they asked.
The BJD leaders said the BJP will have to explain the stand taken by its state leadership before the people. “Is there some deal between the BJP and Congress in Odisha,” they asked. They said national BJP president JP Nadda, Union ministers Smriti Irani and Anurag Singh Thakur and other national leaders G Kissan Reddy and Amit Malaviya have targeted the Congress over the issue and demanded that a party will have to explain the source and reason behind the accumulation of such huge amount of money.
The BJD leaders pointed out that the BJP MPs are today protesting such corrupt practices of Congress under the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in front of the Parliament. “But it is surprising that Odisha leaders are doing the opposite in Odisha,” they said adding, “In a way, Odisha BJP leaders have pledged to somehow save the Congress on this issue.”
Stating that the state BJP leaders have always tried to defame Odisha by giving such false statements, the BJD leaders said the stand taken by them have now exposed the deep and secret understanding between the state Congress and Odisha BJP. “Due to habitually speaking lies and giving misleading statements with an intention to defame Odisha, the people of the state have rejected the BJP in the past and will also reject it in the coming days as well,” they added.