BHUBANESWAR:The Assembly on Tuesday witnessed heated exchanges between ruling and opposition members over seizure of helicopter of former MP Baijayant Panda who allegedly flew over the Chilika lake on September 15. The issue was raised by BJD members who demanded arrest of Panda accusing him of violating environmental norms by landing in the eco-sensitive zone of Chilika lake.
Besides, two video clips having controversial statement on the Konark temple allegedly by a RSS member also agitated both the BJD and Congress members who demanded that strong action should be taken against the person for trying to denigrate the cultural heritage of Odisha.
Though both the incidents were different, some members including Leader of the Opposition Narasingh Mishra criticised a top political leader who resigned from the BJD recently for giving the RSS cadre a ride in his helicopter. “If it is true that a top politician has taken him in his helicopter, it is disastrous,” Mishra said and demanded a thorough investigation into the entire incident.
Stating that the RSS cadre has made comments which have hurt the sentiments of people of Odisha, Mishra demanded that the State Government should take action in this regard.
Stating that the comments in the two video clips are intolerable, former minister and ruling BJD member Sanjay Dasburma alleged that former MP Baijayant Panda had taken the person in his helicopter. “This is a challenge to our culture,” Dasburma said and maintained that there should be a consensus on the issue. He also said the former MP should not violate the law of the land, particularly the environment norms in an eco-sensitive zone like Chilika lake.
The BJP maintained that these are diversionary tactics of the Government from corruption issues. Alleging that the ruling party wants to divert attention from the `800 crore cooperative bank loan scam, leader of the BJP legislature party KV Singhdeo criticised the ruling BJD for avoiding discussion on corruption issues.
Singhdeo, however, extended support to the former parliamentarian. “We are maintaining double standards. We are opposing chopper landing in Chilika, while allowing hundreds of mechanised boats to operate in the lagoon,” he said. The BJD should demand action against Chief Minister for flying helicopter over Chilika, Singhdeo said outside the House.
Referring to the statement in the video clip, Singhdeo said the RSS never propagates such ideology and called upon other members not to politicise the issue.The ruling BJD MLAs sat on a dharna near Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Assembly premises and demanded Panda’s arrest.
Meanwhile, Forest and Environment Minister Bijayshree Routray said the State Government will take necessary actions on the matter as per law. “ A preliminary investigation shows that the flight made a landing at Chilika. He (Panda) committed a mistake by flying at a low-level in a fragile and eco-sensitive area,” he asserted. The Minister, however, said there was no damage to the bio-diversity of the lake.