BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday came out in support of V. K. Pandian and asked party leaders to refrain from criticising him.
A section of party leaders alleged that it was on the direction of V. K. Pandian that Sasmit Patra asked his Rajya Sabha colleagues to use their conscience while casting their votes for the Waqf Act.
Naveen called two national news agencies (PTI and UNI) at Naveen Nivas and shared his concern on the development. “I also want to state quite clearly that Shri Kartikeyan Pandian in the past has done a lot of good work not only for the state but for the party. So he should not be criticised for anything. And also, he left the party more than 10 months ago and is not involved in any of the party’s work,” Naveen said.
Senior party leaders had met at a hotel instead of the party's office to discuss the issue earlier on Wednesday. The young brigade of the BJD, comprising MLAs and former MLAs wrote to Naveen and urged him to initiate action.
“We have communicated our feelings to the leadership and if the party president invites us for a conversation, we will certainly go. We are all with Naveen Patnaik," said Ansuman Mohanty, former MLA, son of late Nalinikanta Mohanty, one of the founding members of BJD.
Naveen targeted the leaders who met at a hotel to discuss the issue. “I would like to state here that I disapprove of any quite large meetings in hotels held by party members. They have the party office Sankha Bhawan which is a large building where they have been told to schedule the meeting and they should do so,” Naveen said.
The young brigade that signed the letter comprises Chandra Sarathi Behara, Bishnubrata Routray, Devi Ranjan Tripathy, Anshuman Mohanty, Pranab Balabantaray, Rudra Pratap Maharathy and Sambit Routray. All hail from political families.
Naveena also targeted Pravat Tripathy, a former minister, for criticising Pandian. “I also want to state clearly: Pravat Tripaty, the ex-MLA was expelled from the BJD some years ago, indicted in the chit fund case and spent some years in jail. I want to clarify again that he does not belong to the party.”
However, Naveen remained silent on the issue of who asked Sasmit Patra to ask his colleagues to vote on their own accord during the crucial voting of the Waqf Act.