Bijay Mohapatra in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, June 2: Opposition BJP today asked chief minister Naveen Patnaik to come clean on corruption charges levelled against him by two of his former cabinet colleagues.

“The chief minister is in the dock following the recent public statements by former ministers Damodar Rout and Debasis Nayak. The charges, being serious in nature, he owes an explanation to the people,” said BJP leader and former minister Bijay Mohapatra.

Asked whether he wants Naveen to join an open debate, the senior BJP leader said: “The issues raised by his former colleagues are now in public domain. There should be an open debate on these issues. If he (Naveen) is prepared for an open debate, we are ready.”

Mohapatra said charges levelled against the BJD government by the BJP had been substantiated by the two former ministers. “Earlier, Naveen and his party leaders were dismissing our charges as politically motivated. But, the revelations made by the party insiders cannot be brushed aside,” he said.

“As revealed from the statements of the two former ministers, the government is suffering from five deficiencies — governance, democratic functioning, ethics, transparency and honesty,” he said.

Mohapatra said Nayak’s statement revealed that corruption was “all-pervasive” in the Naveen Patnaik government and governance had “collapsed”.

He pointed out that Rout had alleged various important decisions and MoUs were not discussed in the cabinet and the chief minister did not consult ministers on vital issues. “This reflects that the government and the party lack internal democracy and transparency,” the BJP leader said.

“Nayak, who was a close aide of Naveen, has stated that corruptions are galore during the present regime. This has exposed his claim about a clean and transparent government,” he said.

“Naveen, who terrorises party leaders to cling on to power, may suppress internal dissension by suspending or sacking someone. But he cannot suppress the suspicion in public mind,” he said.

Parliamentary affairs minister Raghunath Mohanty, however, said: “Our government believes in transparency. Whenever any corruption charge has been received, the chief minister has ordered inquiry and taken action against the guilty.”