BHUBANESWAR: Senior BJP leader Jayanarayan Mishra’s statement that the merger of Koshal region with Odisha was a historic blunder has triggered a full-scale political backlash with the Opposition BJD and Congress demanding Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to make his stand clear on the issue. Former minister and BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain on Sunday said Mishra made the controversial statement in the presence of a minister. “The minister remaining silent implies that he supports the idea of Mishra. The chief minister should clarify his position on the issue,” he demanded.
His party colleague and deputy Opposition chief whip in the Assembly Pratap Deb termed the statement as unfortunate said such remarks undermine Odisha’s historical and cultural identity. “On one hand the BJP speaks about Odia Asmita and on the other, it is encouraging such divisive ideas,” Deb said.
Condemning Mishra’s statement, leader of the Congress legislature party Ramachandra Kadam said the BJP which came to power in Odisha by speaking of Odia Asmita is now questioning the very existence of the state. “It now appears that the double-engine government wants to divide the state,” Kadam said.
Former president of OPCC Niranjan Patnaik demanded that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi come clear on the issue as the statement has been made by a senior leader of his party.