Law minister Bikram Keshari Arukh has been found to have taken two houses from the Bhubaneswar Development Authority under discretionary quota, which is illegal. It is alleged he got one of the houses by influencing you, when you were the housing and urban development minister from 2004 to 2009 in the BJP-BJD government.

Arukh did not have a house in Bhubaneswar when he was allotted one in 2007 in his wife’s name. He applied for a second house in 2009 by influencing his own party member and the then housing and urban development minister (Badri Narayan Patra). That was wrong. Arukh should resign as law minister on moral grounds.

What about allegations that you had distributed plots to judges, IPS officers and others to gain influence over them for your personal benefit?

I have not done anything wrong by allotting plots under the discretionary quota. Many people, including journalists, lawyers, judges, handicapped and other persons who applied for plots or houses, have got them under the discretionary quota. They have paid money to the state exchequer and there was no loss on account of it. The judges, who have got plots, are not among those who were hearing cases against me. There was nothing to gain from them.

You can no longer claim that this issue has been raised to tarnish BJP’s image ahead of the panchayat elections.

This issue was raised targeting BJP but it has boomeranged. When you throw a stone at a glass house, some fragments return to hit you with a greater force.

 

Several common people were allegedly deprived of getting plots. There is a demand for an inquiry into the house allotment process under discretionary quota.

I welcome an inquiry but it should be conducted by an independent agency, not under the control of the state government. The inquiry should not only be confined to the allotment made between 2000 and 2009 (when there was BJP-BJD coalition rule in Odisha); it must go beyond that.

Have you violated the norms of the discretionary quota?

I have not violated any norms. Under the discretionary quota, 10 per cent of a housing scheme could be allotted in Bhubaneswar and five per cent in Cuttack. While core houses were allotted in Bhubaneswar, plots were given to people in Cuttack under various categories. There was reservation for people belonging to defence, SC/ST and other backward castes. There were many plots which were unsold and I surrendered them to the government.

There is a perception that the discretionary quota has been misused by the powers that be.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik used his discretionary quota while allotting land of Lord Jagannath to the Anil Agarwal Foundation for the proposed Vedanta University project. I allotted plots and houses as per the market price but Naveen used his discretion to allot the lands of Lord Jagannath at a much cheaper price. The Lok Pal has also made adverse remarks on this, but the state government is sitting on the Lok Pal’s file. Is this not injustice?

You also alleged that Naveen Nivas was built on Lingaraj Temple land, but Naveen has denied this. Can you elaborate?

I want to clarify that the additional land of Naveen Nivas, on which other buildings have come up, belongs to Lingaraj Temple. However, the land was purchased legally and at a higher price by Biju Patnaik in the name of his wife, Gyan Patnaik.

There are speculations that the BJP would forge an alliance with the BJD in the near future. Is this the reason why Advani refrained from commenting on Naveen and the recent scams that have rocked Odisha during his recent yatra?

Never. There is no question of an alliance. Our national party president Nitin Gadkari and state president Jual Oram have issued statements.

Wasn’t the state BJP demoralised with Advani’s silence over the corruption in Odisha?

With his visit to Odisha, the party was united. The cadre’s morale has been boosted. Advaniji never told us to raise corruption issues in the state. His yatra tried to focus on the corruption perpetrated by the UPA government. The party had raised the Odisha-related corruption issues in the BJP executive body meeting at Lucknow in the presence of Advaniji.

Your party vice-president Ashok Sahu told media persons that if Advani had spoken about the corrupt practices of the BJD, it would have boosted your campaign for the panchayat elections.

I don’t agree with him. He is not authorised to make such statements and it will be taken up at the right forum within the party. We don’t wash our dirty linen in public.

Will the BJP revive in Odisha?

The party is already at the lower rung of state politics. It will go nowhere except to the top. However, the future of BJD is bleak.

You have reportedly received threat calls from Maoists and have said that the police are not cooperating with you.

The police are not cooperating and the state government will never cooperate. They would be more than happy if a politician from a rival party was knocked off.

From hospitality to politics

Articulate and affable, Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo is a scion of the Balangir royal family. He belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party and was the housing and urban development minister from 2004 to 2009 in the BJP-BJD alliance government.

Singh Deo completed his schooling from the Air Force Central School, New Delhi and did part of his graduation from Delhi University with economics honours. Midway, he left the university to pursue a degree in hotel management under the Taj Group of Hotels. He has worked in the hospitality sector for over eight years.

Singh Deo entered politics in 1990 and contested the Assembly and parliamentary elections but lost both.

He became an MLA for the first time in 1995.

He was re-elected for three more terms, and has been minister of industries, public enterprises and housing and urban development.

As a member of the cabinet, Singh Deo introduced a number of Bills such as the Orissa University of Technology Bill, 2001 and the Orissa Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2007.

He is married to Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, is also a member of the BJP and was elected to the Lok Sabha for three consecutive terms from Balangir constituency.

He has great interest in basketball and cricket.

What would you have been had you not been a politician?

I was in the hospitality sector for eight long years and would have continued in that field.

My parents never burdened with any expectations and let me pursue my interests.

I went on to study hotel management and was in the hotel industry before I entered politics.

However, since I came from a family which has a long association with politics, it was but natural for me to return to my roots.

I believe I made the right decision by joining politics. There are no regrets. I always look ahead and see things from a positive point of view.