Odisha: Baijayant Panda hits back at CM Patnaik

Bhubaneswar, Mar 28: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national vice president Baijayant Panda on Thursday, hit back at Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, a day after the CM said the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Kendrapara candidate will not hide anything in his affidavit like drawing salary and working for a mining company. Panda had resigned from the BJD and his Lok Sabha membership last year.

He joined the BJP this year and is now the saffron party candidate for the Kendrapara seat.

While announcing the name of the BJD candidate for the Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat on Wednesday, Patnaik had said "Anubhav Mohanty will be working only for the interest of the people of Kendrapara & he will have nothing to hide in his affidavit like drawing salary and working for a mining company".

But Patnaik did not take name of Panda. Panda's family owns a mining company.

Reacting the the CM's statement, Panda tweeted "Didn't think Naveen wd stoop so low. He of all ppl should be aware of my family's 60yr old industry, with which late Biju uncle was very familiar, & dependant, for decades."

He further said "Also, I have never been involved in granting mining leases to companies one year before they were formed."

After Panda's resignation from the BJD, the regional party had alleged that Panda had not mentioned in his affidavit while filing nomination in the last parliamentary poll that he also draws salary from the mining company owned by his family.

PTI