Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, June 16: Three Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLAs from the Cuttack — Debashish Samantaray, Pravat Biswal and Pratap Jena — and excise minister Damodar Rout landed at the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) separately Thursday.
This comes against the backdrop of intra-party squabbling over the BJD’s defeat in the bypoll to ward No 21 in Cuttack and Rout’s “ghost” remark.
There is speculation that the visit of the leaders to the CMO might be connected to these two issues.
After the bypoll results were declared, Rout had blamed local MLAs of the party for the loss. The three leaders who reached the CMO Thursday had on their part asked Rout not to interfere in Cuttack politics.
The infighting intensified when Rout dubbed Samantray, Jena and his arch rival, Bishu Das, as “ghosts”, while recalling a 2009 programme at Jagatsinghpur. The excise minister, however, later did a volte-face, stating that his “ghost” comment was misinterpreted.
Samantaray and Biswal refrained from speaking to the media after their visit. Jena, who is also a spokesperson of the ruling party, said the meeting was about “issues pertaining to their constituencies”. Jena, however, did not clarify if the three met Chief Minister and party president Naveen Patnaik. “I have no idea whether they (Samantray and Biswal) met the Chief Minister. However, they had told me earlier that they are planning to meet the Chief Minister to discuss some issues pertaining to their constituencies,” Jena said. He also did not reveal anything about his visit.
Rout who visited the CMO after the three MLAs, said he met the Chief Minister and gave his “message” to him. However, the minister did not revealing anything about the “message”.
The leaders may have been summoned by the Chief Minister, who had earlier reportedly warned party MLAs and ministers not to make public statements about the party’s internal affairs, according to sources.
