BHUBANESWAR : BJD MLA from Champua, Sanatan Mahakud on Thursday came under fire from party president Naveen Patnaik in full public view for remaining absent from the legislature party meeting on Wednesday.
In an uncharacteristic show of anger, Naveen confronted Mahakud at the Assembly entrance and reprimanded him for skipping the crucial meeting. Not leaving at that, he sarcastically asked if the MLA had come to see the BJP chief minister in the House.
Mahakud along with some other BJD MLAs were present to welcome the former chief minister at the Assembly entrance. Mahakud replied that he could not attend the meeting as he was unwell. Not convinced with the reason, Naveen asked if he had come to see the chief minister on the day. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi belongs to the same Keonjhar district as Mahakud.
While everyone present there was left speechless at the retort of the BJD president, Mahakud later dismissed speculations over his joining BJP. Speaking to mediapersons, he asserted that he is in BJD and will continue to be in the party. “As the party chief, he has every right to ask me why I remained absent,” he said.
He also said there was nothing wrong if he met Chief Minister Majhi for development works in his constituency. “The chief minister belongs to the same district and I meet him in official and other functions also. But nobody can say that I will join BJP, if I meet him,” he added.
Mahakud said the chief minister had visited Champua, his constituency during which a cake-cutting ceremony was organised. “The chief minister gave me a piece of the cake,” he said and asked the mediapersons not to read too much from the incident.
However, frequent meetings of various groups of leaders have created a sense of unease in the party as two Rajya Sabha MPs Mamata Mohanta and Sujeet Kumar have already quit the BJD and joined the BJP.
A group of senior leaders had met in a hotel at Guwahati in BJP-ruled Assam very recently. Around 20 leaders had also held a meeting in Khurda. Youth leaders of the party are also meeting regularly.