Bhubaneswar, May 29: Unable to bear personal criticism, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo Naveen Patnaik today suspended his former close confidant and three-time MLA Debasis Nayak from the party for “indulging in anti-party activities”.

Nayak, who was Naveen’s “eyes and ears” when he entered politics in 1997, had criticised the chief minister for becoming dependant on Rajya Sabha member Pyari Mohan Mohapatra.

Nayak had virtually said that Naveen was under the clutches of Mohapatra and the latter was running the government and the party. The chief minister was taking all decisions, including the last Cabinet shuffle, at the behest of Mohapatra, who was the principal secretary to former chief minister the late Biju Patnaik.

Nayak was part of Naveen’s personal staff when the latter was the Union steel minister. Joining politics when Naveen assumed the reins of the state, Nayak was made a minister but he had to quit following a sex scandal.

Nayak and the then Speaker Maheshwar Mohanty were asked to resign in 2008.

In the last Cabinet shuffle this month, Mohanty was included while Nayak was not.

The MLA from Bar had blown the lid off the dal scam and had been quite critical of the functioning of the state government.

He was the only leader from the party who had openly questioned Naveen’s decision to drop agriculture minister Damodar Rout. The latter, too, had become openly critical of Mohapatra and made it clear that he would not accept “the alternate power centre” within the party.

The qualitative difference between Rout and Nayak was that the former had never questioned Naveen’s authority. On the other hand, Nayak had been trying to confront Naveen on the “sorry of state of affairs” in the party and the government.

He had claimed that dissension was brewing within the party and several MLAs and five ministers had protested against the functioning of Mohapatra and were in touch with him.

“The action was taken to send a message to the party leaders to maintain strict discipline within the party,” said a senior BJD leader.

Reacting to the disciplinary action, Nayak said: “I will abide by the decision of the party supremo. The people will judge and I have nothing more to say.”

However, Rout declined to comment on the suspension of Nayak.

Another leader who was dropped from the council of ministers during the shuffle, Bijayranjan Singh Bariah, too, has hinted that Mohapatra was behind the shuffle.