BJD crisis deepens

BHUBANESWAR, Nov 17 (UNI) — The state executive of crisis-ridden Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today ratified all decisions taken by Party president Naveen Patnaik against dissidents and empowered him to take disciplinary action against any members indulging in anti-party activities.

The executive ratified the expulsion order issued against five senior BJD MLAs by the Party president. It also discussed the intra party squabbling going on in the party and the action of the 15 BJD MLAs electing Mr Prafulla Samal as the new legislative party leader removing leader of opposition Ram Krushna Pattnaik from the post.

Later talking to newsmen Mr Pattnaik ruled out any split in the party saying that there had been some differences among the members which were inherent in all political parties.

Earlier in the day supporters opponents of party president and Union Minister Naveen Patnaik staging a separate show of strength and dissidents boycotting the party’s Executive Committee meeting.

The dissidents, led by senior BJD leader Bijoy Mohapatra, gathered at the residence of party legislator V. Sugnana Kumari Deo to deliberate on the situation arising out of the vertical division in the BJD Legislature Party and the expulsion of five MLAs.

On the other hand, a meeting of Naveen loyalists, attended by 27 of the 31 district unit presidents, was held this morning at the residence of the Union Steel and Mines Minister expressing confidence in his leadership.

Interestingly, three dissident MLAs — Raghunath Mohanty, Maheswar Mohanty and Madhabananda Behera — who are also district unit presidents, were present at the meeting.

The 15 MLAs, who split the 27-member BJDLP and four members of the nine-member BJD Parliamentary Party stayed away from the controversial Executive Committee meeting convened by Mr Naveen Patnaik. The four MPs were Prasanna Patsani, Prabhat Samantray, Tathagat Satpathy and Bhartruhari Mahatab.

The dissidents had been demanding the cancellation of the meeting pending a solution to the differences among senior party leaders on the issue of the organisational shake-up carried out by Mr Naveen Patnaik last month.

Changes in the organisational set-up sparked dissidence with Bijoy Mohapatra and his supporters feeling marginalised and openly criticising Mr Patnaik’s style of functioning.

Bijoy Mohapatra, dissident leader and chairman of the party’s Political Affairs Committee, said they had decided to boycott the meeting since they had certain grievances against the party leadership.

He told reporters there was no move to replace Mr Patnaik as party chief.

Mohapatra denied that the ruling Congress had a hand in yesterday’s swift developments in the party.

Kumari Deo asserted that all 27 party MLAs were solidly behind the leadership of Mr Patnaik.

Party secretary-general Prasanna Acharya, Arjun Charan Sethi, Braja Kishore Tripathy and Padmanabha Behera and three BJD Rajya Sabha members, including Minister of State for Coal Dilip Ray, were present at the meeting.

Regarding his removal from the post of opposition leader, Rama Krushna Patnaik described the recognition given by Speaker Chintamani Dyan Samantara to Samal as new leader of the BJD Legislature Party as "illegal".

Mohapatra described the expulsion of five MLAs as unwarranted while asserting that they continued as BJD legislators.