BHUBANESWAR: Congress whip in Assembly and Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati created a flutter in the political circles here by praising Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at a public function in Jeypore.
The incident took place during the platinum jubilee function of Vikram Deb College in which the chief minister, 5T secretary VK Pandian and BJD organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das were present.
Bahinipati not only praised the initiative of the chief minister which he said will help in spreading education in southern Odisha districts, he also raised slogans like ‘chief minister zindabad’ at the function. The Congress MLA also did not forget to praise the BJD organisational secretary and 5T secretary at the function giving rise to speculations whether there is any political motive behind his stand.
The bonhomie of the Congress legislator with the BJD top brass was quite in contrast to another incident which happened on the stage when the function was going on. It was seen that the BJD organisational secretary pushed former minister Rabi Narayan Nanda down off the stage.
Nanda, a senior BJD leader, is an arch rival Banihipati in Jeypore politics. Meanwhile, president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Sarat Pattanayak who is in New Delhi said he will talk to the MLA after returning to the state. Several senior Congress leaders have quit the party to join the BJD in the past. Former leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh, deceased health minister Naba Kishore Das and former MP Pradip Majhi are examples. Das and Majhi were working presidents of the Congress before they joined BJD.