Bhubaneswar: Senior BJD leader and deputy chairman of State Planning Board Bishnu Das and his political rival Damodar Rout locked horn once again Friday by indulging in a war of words. With the dismissal of Rout from BJD, the fight between the two senior politicians is turning ugly with each passing day.
Reacting to Rout’s statement that he plans to do an Anna Hazare and take up cudgels against corruption in the state, Das said, “No comparison can be drawn between Hazare and Rout. Rout had started his political career with corruption. When he was veterinary doctor, he was involved in irregularities. After that he resigned from that post and joined politics.”
Leveling anti-party allegations against Rout, the BJD leader said, “He brought some women from Congress and made them BJD women wings chiefs in different blocks. When the party removed them, he appointed them as vice-presidents of Biju Mahila Janata Dal (BMJD) by using forging the signature of BMJD state president Pramila Mallick. We will bring this to the notice of CM.”
Hitting back at Bishnu Das, the former minister said, “Is Bishnu the vigilance director? The corruption he is talking about must be something he was involved in. I picked him up in 1985 and helped him to get a party ticket. He is no comparison to me in age and experience.”
Both Das and Rout belong to Jagatsinghpur district and have been bitter rivals since long. Das had first raised the demand for Rout’s expulsion from the party before Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Meanwhile, responding to a query on Rout’s expulsion and his allegations, state Congress president Niranjan Patniak said, “Dama Rout’s dismissal is BJD’s internal matter. But terming his allegations relating to scams in the OSCB, sapling distribution and Omfed as ridiculous is unacceptable.”
Similarly, Samata Kranti Dal chief Braja Tripathy demanded a probe into the allegations made by Rout. “BJD has become a private limited company and there is no democracy in party since 2009.”
