BHUBANESWAR: Even as the state BJP leadership has claimed that a major chunk of the BJD MLAs are in touch with the saffron party, the ruling party has taken it with a pinch of salt. Responding to BJP’s state unit president Manmohan Samal's statement on the issue the other day, Energy Minister Pratap Keshari Deb said BJP’s claim is a repetition of what the party has said before the 2019 elections.
“This is the same BJP that had set a target to win 120 seats under its ‘Mission 120+’ in the last elections. They ended up with 22. They call us a defunct transformer but the same transformer is still supplying electricity to the state,” Deb remarked.
“A senior BJP leader had said his party will throw the BJD government into the Bay of Bengal but the regional party is going from strength to strength,” he said. Asserting many BJP leaders are in touch with the BJD to switch sides, the minister said such things happen before every election. This is nothing new.
“BJP MLAs are in touch with our party while our MLAs are in touch with their party. It is quite common in politics. When elections get closer, such claims emerge,” he added.
Shortly after the minister’s reply, BJP’s state general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan claimed 80 per cent of the ruling party are ready to leave the party. Equating the BJD rule with ‘Ravan Raj’, Harichandan said, “While only one Vibhishan was required to end Ravana’s empire, there are hundreds of Vibhishans waiting as they are fed up with the ruling BJD.”