Naveen Patnaik

Bhubaneswar, June 13: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today asserted that no one had ever blackmailed him as he sought to put a troublesome colleague in place.

“This is absolutely incorrect,” said Naveen as reporters confronted him with the statement of BJD MLA Debasis Nayak who had recently alleged that the chief minister was being blackmailed by a group of BJD leaders with a vested interest. Incidentally, Nayak was recently suspended from the BJD for alleged anti-party activities.

In a statement two days ago, Nayak said the chief minister was being blackmailed and had been forced to suspend him from the party. Nayak was apparently hinting at his bete noire and BJD second-in-command Pyari Mohan Mohapatra, who is also a Rajya Sabha member.

Interestingly, the audio tape controversy with labour minister Puspendra Singh Deo being accused of trying to buy over Congress MLA Sibaji Majhi in the last Rajya Sabha election held on June 17, 2010, revolves around Mohapatra.

It has been alleged that Singh Deo and another minister, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, indulged in horse trading at the instance of Mohapatra. However, Mohapatra, who is in trouble for the first time, has refused to comment on the issue.

Reacting to the development, Naveen today said he was looking into the matter. However, the state government is in a dilemma over the issue and asked the channel to submit the cassette for examination. “As the government is sure that the voice is that of labour minister Singh Deo, it does not want to create any fuss by asking the private channel which has aired the news to give the tape for verification,” said a senior government official.

According to sources, the cassette surfaced following a dispute over sharing of the money that had been paid to the middlemen. “Six persons accompanied Sibaji Majhi from Kalahandi to Khurda on June 14, three days before the Rajya Sabha election. A deal was struck with Majhi. As per the agreement, Sibaji Majhi gave the money to one of the middlemen in a briefcase. The middleman left with the money,” said a reliable source.

Sources said all the six persons were assured of Rs 5 lakh each. As per the agreement, Rs 30 lakh were given to them in a briefcase. However, one of them left with the briefcase and refused to share the money with others and asked them to contact the minister for the money. After this, others contacted Singh Deo for money, but the latter refused to oblige them and the Pandora’s box opened.

Though attempts have been made to get in touch with the middleman, his mobile phone remains switched off. To put pressure on the government the Congress is planning to file an FIR on the issue. “The draft of the FIR is ready and being examined carefully. The FIR will be lodged shortly,” said a senior Congress leader.