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Bhubaneswar: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) notice to Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare (FSCW) minister Sanjay Das Burma for allegedly taking a car from chit fund firm Arta Tatwa Group has sparked a political slugfest in the state.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sought the resignation of the minister while the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has alleged that the inquiry process is politically motivated.
Shortly after Das Burma’s lawyers appeared before CBI Thursday to submit the required documents, the Congress and BJP sought the resignation of the minister.
“The minister should immediately resign on moral grounds or else the Chief Minister should ask him to resign after CBI issued notice to him in chit fund scam,” said state BJP general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan.
“The law will take its own course, but prima facie, the Chief Minister should ask Das Burma to step down on moral grounds. If proven otherwise, he can always reinstate him in his council of ministers,” the he said.
Senior BJP leader Samir Mohanty said the Chief Minister, who has always maintained that law will take its own course in the matter, should prove his integrity by sacking the minister.
The Congress also criticised the minister for having links with chit fund companies.
Congress leader Pradeep Majhi demanded Das Burma’s resignation on moral grounds.
Party leader Lalatendu Bidyadhar (Lulu) Mohapatra, who had raised the matter earlier, said, “The moment I received information about a minister’s involvement, I informed the media about it. The recent string of events only proves that whatever I had said was correct. My stand is vindicated.”
However, the ruling BJD alleged that the CBI investigation is politically motivated and questioned the issue of notice only after Lulu Mohapatra appeared with some papers before the media in this regard a few days ago.
“Why was the notice served one-and-a-half years after the filing of the charge sheet by the investigating agency?” asked BJD spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb.
“All cases related to the chit fund scam are being investigated by the CBI and the process is on since past two years. Our party has always welcomed the investigation, but it has to be impartial. We smell politics in the issuance of notice to Das Burma,” he said.
This also indicates that there is a ‘nexus’ between Congress and BJP, he said.
Lulu ,however, claimed that there is no such nexus.
