BHUBANESWAR: The BJD on Thursday alleged the media conference of BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra on land acquisition of the state government for Vedanta university has proved a faction of the saffron party is not happy with the appointment of Manmohan Samal as the state party president.
Addressing media persons at New Delhi, BJD spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra said there were talks that a section of BJP is not happy over the appointment of Samal as the state president. Now, the media conference of BJP national spokesperson has proved it.
Stating that Samal was the revenue minister when the land was handed over to Vedanta for the university project, Patra said another senior BJP leader Sameer De was the higher education minister. Samal had strongly defended the land transfer to Vedanta in the state assembly and De had also supported it. The BJD Rajya Sabha member alleged that Sambit Patra addressed the media conference over the issue only to put Samal in a difficult situation.
Patra also targeted union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the Kotia issue and asked him whether he had raised it even once during the last nine years with the Centre or with the ministry of home affairs. “You are a minister at the Centre all these nine years, out of which six years as a cabinet minister,” he added.
The BJD Rajya Sabha member also questioned Pradhan whether he had raised the issue in the inter-state council. Stating that senior BJP leader Biswabhusan Harichandan was the Governor of Andhra Pradesh for several years, Patra asked Pradhan whether he raised the issue with him even once, despite meeting him several times.
Patra said the ‘drama’ of the union minister over Kotia will not solve the issue. Stating that the Centre can solve the matter through the inter-state council, Patra said the union minister never raised the issue. “Everybody knows you never raised the Kotia issue even once during the last nine years,” he said and asked whether his concern over Kotia is only for media coverage.