Bhubaneswar: Annoyed with the ‘silence’ of central investigating agencies like the CBI and ED on alleged corruption cases in Odisha, a BJP MLAs’ delegation led by the leader of the opposition, Jayanarayan Mishra, will visit New Delhi to draw Centre’s attention.
While ED and CBI teams regularly visit other states, why are they not coming to Odisha to probe corruption cases, Mishra told reporters here Thursday.
Claiming rampant corruption at the government level in Odisha, Mishra alleged that the BJD government even did not spare Shree Jagannath Temple’s Ratna Bhandar in Puri and is reluctant to undertake an inventory of the temple’s treasury, which indicated something wrong behind it.
Mishra said all the 22 BJP MLAs will be part of the delegation, the date for which will soon be decided.
He said other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the delegation plans to meet the President, Election Commission of India and some Union ministers.
“We are preparing a memorandum on how all officials, from a peon to an IAS officer, are working on the basis of the party line in Odisha. We will submit the memorandum to them,” he said.
Besides apprising the prime minister on the corruption cases, Mishra said the delegation will meet Shah and inform him about the overall law and order situation and attacks on BJP workers across the state.
“We will meet the Election Commissioner and apprise him on the unconstitutional activities taking place in the state,” said Mishra, who strongly objected to the use of BJD’s conch symbol in state government advertisements during the launch of ‘Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha’ and Location Accessible Multi-modal Initiative (LAccMI) schemes.
He said the MLAs will also meet party president JP Nadda and apprise him on the prevailing political situation in the state.
Mishra also added that they will also meet railway and SC/ST ministers.
Meanwhile, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattanayak said, “The BJP and BJD are hand-in-glove. They (the BJP) are going to Delhi to deceive the people of Odisha. Even after their return from Delhi, neither the ED nor the CBI will visit the state. Why has nothing so far been done in the chit fund and mine scams?”
Ruling BJD MLA Arabinda Dhali said, “The opposition MLAs may visit Delhi and make complaints. But, the fact remains that everything is right in Odisha and people are happy.”
BJD spokesperson and MP Sasmit Patra suggested that the BJP delegation should raise people’s issues during their visit to Delhi.
“The BJP MLAs should draw attention on the non-completion of Cuttack-Sambalpur National Highway, demand to waive GST on kendu leaf, low teledensity and banking facilities in southern and western regions of the state, to make paddy MSP at Rs 2,930 per quintal and houses for tribals under PMAY,” Patra told reporters.
PTI
