Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Thursday targeted the BJP candidate for Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat, Baijayant Panda, alleging that he wanted to be the chief of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance to help his family business.
BJD spokespersons Sulata Deo, Lenin Mohanty and Sasmit Patra addressed a joint press conference here and said that former MP Panda desperately wanted to become the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance in 2014 so that he can help his family business grow.
“Panda’s only interest was to ensure that his mining company Imfa got billions as loans from banks and financial institutions. He thought that as the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Finance in Parliament he can influence banks and further his business interests,” Patra alleged.
“In May 2014 when the state government was formed after elections, Panda informed a Board of Directors meeting of Imfa held May 20, 2014, that the mining company has succeeded in getting a loan of Rs 110 crore from SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited for its subsidiary Utkal Coal Limited. This proves that Panda played an active role in getting loans from banks and financial institutions for his businesses,” Patra said.
Although Panda claimed that he had no role to play in the commercial operations of his family firm, the certified copy of the resolutions passed at the meeting of the company’s Board of Directors proved that he was the person who was getting loans for his company, Patra alleged.
Declaring that Panda was not a politician, the BJD spokesperson said he was a businessman who was using politics to further his business interests.
The BJD also demanded scrapping of the nomination of Panda for not mentioning about his role in the mining firm.
In his reaction Panda said, “A false case was lodged against me, but the court stayed the matter. It is the BJD chief who should clarify whether he has mentioned about being interrogated by the CBI in his affidavit.”