BHUBANESWAR: Senior BJD leader and Ghasipura MLA Badri Narayan Patra on Thursday came down heavily on some of his party colleagues for spreading rumours about the regional outfit forming government in Odisha with the help of Congress.
“Such claims are unrealistic and the party can only come to power after five years,” he said.
Questioning the legitimacy of such statements, the former minister said he is unaware of any plan of a tie-up with the Congress. He also wondered if the BJD leaders have been authorised by party president Naveen Patnaik to indulge in such talk. “These leaders should be asked to refrain from spreading rumours,” he said.
The MLA further said BJD follows the policy of equal distance from the BJP and Congress. “The regional outfit was never with the Congress and there is no such possibility in future. BJD also has no connection with the BJP. As a regional party, BJD has always maintained distance from the two political parties. I don’t know who is spreading such rumours and creating confusion through such unrealistic statements.”
Earlier, Rajya Sabha MPs Muzibulla Khan and Debashish Samantaray and former minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak had stated that BJD will come back to power with the help of Congress and Naveen will be the chief minister again.