BHUBANESWAR: Two days after suspending MLAs Sanatan Mahakud and Arvind Mohapatra from the party, the BJD on Saturday justified the disciplinary action saying the duo was part of a larger conspiracy to destabilise the party.
Addressing a media-conference here, party spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said attempts should not be made to differentiate between Mahakud and Mohapatra, who were suspended by the BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Thursday for their involvement in anti-party activities.
Mohanty said former minister Bijay Mohapatra, father of Arvind, was a big part of the conspiracy. “There was a well thought out plan on how to divide the BJD which has been foiled by the suspension of the two MLAs. While Mahakud was in charge of providing funds, the senior Mohapatra had begun networking with different leaders of the party. Arvind would have executed the plan,” Mohanty said. The party president got wind of such activity and took the decision to suspend the MLAs, he said.
Later, addressing a media-conference, Arvind dismissed the allegations against him and his father as baseless and unfounded. He challenged the party president to give concrete evidence of his anti-party activities without making single line quotes. “I have met Mahakud only a few times at the Assembly and have never sat down with him for a chat. An unnecessary controversy is being created by dragging my father into it. Being a first-time MLA, I regard myself as a fresher and have been focussing on legislative duties and development works in my constituency,” he said.
He demanded transparency from the party leadership. He demanded that specific anti-party activities by him or meetings involving himself, his father, and Mahakud should be made public by the BJD.