BALASORE: Barely two months after the elections, a BJD MLA is in the soup for allegedly submitting false affidavit during the filing of his nomination papers.
BJD MLA Sudarshan Jena from Remuna (SC) in Balasore district is accused of faking his caste in the affidavit.
BJP leader Giridhari Das, who had contested against him, lodged a case in the High Court on June 30 which has put Jena in trouble.
“As per the land records, Jena is Kuduma by caste. But in the affidavit, he has claimed he belongs to Kandara caste. So his nomination stands invalid,” he claimed.
Not only Das, several BJP leaders have raised their voice against Jena. Talking to mediapersons, former BJP MP Kharabela Swain claimed that Jena had been availing of benefits by claiming himself Kandara by caste for more than two decades.
“He belongs to Sitadiha village under Singla police limits in Basta tehsil area and has mentioned it in the nomination papers as his permanent address. But he has provided the caste certificate obtained from Sadar tehsil,” he told.
Jena, however, rubbished all the charges. “The charges are false and baseless. I will produce all the required facts in the court. It is nothing but a political gimmick,” he maintained.
Sadar tehsildar Sambit Nayak said that he had given the certificate after thorough verification during which it was learnt that Jena belonged to SC community. “It holds no significance as to which sub-caste he belongs to, but he is an SC by caste,” Nayak clarified.