Jagdish Tytler at Congress Bhawan in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, April 7: Raising the pitch of his anti-BJD tirade, Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and the party’s Orissa in-charge Jagdish Tytler today accused the Orissa government of corruption in handing over small ports for development to industrial houses.

Though Tytler refrained from making a personal attack on chief minister Naveen Patnaik on his fourth visit to the state he had the government clearly in his sights. “There was no tender while awarding the port work to these companies. I wonder why no one ever raised this question here. The corruption is bigger than the 2-G spectrum scam. We will soon prepare the documents. I am in touch with my colleagues,” he said.

The Congress leader pointed out that the Orissa government had signed MoU with a number of companies for developing nearly eight small ports on the Orissa coast. These ports in questions are Bichitrapur, the Subernarekha mouth, Bahabalpur, Inchudi, Chandipur, Chudamani and Astaranga.

Tytler also met leaders of the Student Congress, the Youth Congress and the Mahila Congress. He said that all of them would be given responsibility to take the party to the grassroots. Moreover, he asked them to come out with suggestions on how the Congress would emerge as victorious in the coming panchayat election slated to be held in 2012. “Tytler has a specific plan and it will be known to us within two months,” said a senior congress leader.

For the first time, the BJD government has been left unnerved by Tytler’s aggressive policy to revive the Congress. Though it had tried to attack Tytler, yet the BJD leadership could not score a point on him.

Earlier, Tytler had set the cat among the pigeons by stating that action would be taken against party leaders found to be involved in the mining scam.

“I have specific information that many leaders are involved in the mining scam. We have to weed them out. We cannot take on the Naveen Patnaik government on the scam issue without doing this,” he said.

Tytler’s assertion has put a number of Congress leaders on the backfoot. “If Tytler is successful in convincing people that the Congress is free from mafia activities, the party is bound to reap good benefits,” said a Congress leader.