RS Dy Chairman poll: Cong takes dig at Naveen again for supporting NDA

Bhubaneswar: Continuing its attack on BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for supporting NDA candidate in Rajya Sabha deputy chairman election, the OPCC Saturday said the PM and CM are engaged in telephonic conversations these days but the CM has never bothered to raise the Mahanadi water issue with the PM.
After Harivansh Narayan Singh was elected as the Deputy Chairman of RS, the Prime Minister, in a telephonic conversation with the CM, expressed his gratitude to him for supporting the NDA candidate.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik made a series of tweets criticising Naveen and Modi on the issue and said now Congress is the only opposition party in state as BJD and BJP are one.
“The PM and CM have been talking a lot over phone these days. Wonder when will they talk about Odisha’s issues? Why doesn’t the CM pick up the phone and ask the PM to intervene in the construction of barrages on Mahanadi by the Chhattisgarh govt?” asked Niranjan.
The Congress leader hoped that Naveen would raise the issue of special category status for Odisha and illegal land encroachment in Odisha by BJP governments of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand when PM Modi calls him for help next time.
“CM, here’s another suggestion for your next phone conversation with PM Modi-Finish what Muktikanta Biswal wasn’t allowed to do. The next time you talk to your good friend for the next “deal”, do remind him of the super specialty hospital he promised to the people of Rourkela,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra said the intimacy between PM Narendra Modi and Naveen will have an adverse impact on the state BJP in the forthcoming elections.
Considering the fact that the state BJP has been criticising the state government, the sudden change in the stand of the party towards the BJD will be seriously examined by the people of the state, he added.
“How come you seek support from a party in the morning and then speak against it in the evening? Will the people believe you? You cannot blow hot and cold in the same breath after all,” Mohapatra said. He said the BJD should also make its stand clear on this issue.
However, state BJP vice president Sameer Mohanty and BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra defended their parties saying the two parties united for a constitutional post not for a political seat.
“We will continue our fight against BJD government for the rights of the people of the state. Mohapatra’s statement proves that he is now becoming closer to the party voted in support of NDA,” Mohanty said.
“We should try to understand that Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman post is not a political one. It’s a constitutional post,” Patra said.