BJD fought Odisha polls with chit fund money, alleges Pradip Majhi

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Nabarangpur, Aug 21:

Odisha Congress leader and former MP of Nabarangpur Pradip Majhi today claimed that the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) had fought the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in May this year with money earned out of the chit fund scam.

“The ruling party had fought the elections with the money provided by the chit fund companies, which have swindled over Rs 20,000 crore from the people of the state,” Majhi told reporters here.

The former MP said the ongoing probe by the CBI, which had clearly established the involvement of several top BJD leaders in the mega scam, had provided ample proof that the state government was lying when it filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court claiming that no ruling party politicians were involved in the scam.

“The Central investigating agency, currently probing the affairs of 44 chit fund companies in the state, would unearth the involvement of more leaders of the ruling party in the mega scam,” Majhi asserted.

Referring to the gross misuse of discretionary quota in the Cuttack Development Authority (CDA), Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and the Odisha State Housing Board (OSHB), the former Congress MP said the BJD ministers and their kin have fraudulently taken possession of 932 plots and houses during 2000-2012 thereby inflicting a loss to the tune of Rs 4000 crore on the state exchequer.

Talking about the encroachment of nearly 100 acres of forest land in Paikrapur panchayat under Chandaka tehsil on the outskirts of the capital city, he said the statements of the chief minister and the Revenue minister that they had no knowledge about this was not believable.

“The chief minister, who is trying to shield his corrupt party men, should step down owning moral responsibility,” Majhi demanded.