BHUBANESWAR: The BJD on Thursday lashed out at state BJP president Manmohan Samal for claiming that the regional party will become empty of leaders soon.
Addressing a media conference here, BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said such claims by the state BJP chief is not a good sign for democracy. “Samal is promoting horse trading. He has become intolerant after the successful launch of Jana Sampark Padayatra by BJD president Naveen Patnaik,” he said.
Mohanty further said Samal is making such statements because he has lost control over the party organisation following his consecutive defeats in Assembly elections.
Reacting to Samal’s statement, former minister Badri Narayan Patra also questioned the BJP’s capability to lure away BJD leaders to its fold. Throwing a challenge to BJP, Patra said, “BJD is a big regional party. Are they (BJP) capable of making BJD empty?”
However, BJP MLA Sanatan Bijuli said the saffron party is the only alternative in India. “Everybody will be eager to join BJP. Let us wait to see what happens. There will be no need to break BJD, it will disintegrate automatically,” he added.