Center has let Odisha Govt off CBI clutch, says Jual

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Jan 2, 2016 at 12:24 AM Updated On : Jan 2, 2016 at 12:33 AM

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jan 1:

In a statement that shook up Odisha politics today, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram on Friday claimed that the Central Government has gone slow on CBI investigations into the chit fund and coal mining scam in Odisha.

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“The Central Government has let them (BJD led State Government) off in many issues including chit fund and mining. Had it not been the case, the CBI would have finished them off already. They should thank (the Center) for it,” said Oram speaking to an Odisha based private news channel.

Upon further questioning, however, Oram tried to twist his own words a bit.

“The investigation has actually slowed down but still going on. They haven’t let the State Government off. But, as everyone knows the investigations have slowed down. It is not going at the expected speed,” he added.

Upon even further grilling, sensing trouble, Oram refused to give a reason for the slowdown on record.

“The question you asked is a technical question. It can’t be answered here,” he said reacting to the question that wanted to find out the reason behind the slowdown in investigation.

Oram, whose party leads the NDA government in the Center, is expected to know why the investigation by the central agency has slowed down. Interestingly, Oram didn’t rule out knowing the reason either. He simply refused to tell on record.

BJD was scathing in its reaction after the news broke out.

“The argument of the Union Minister is unjustifiable. This is insane. Earlier they used to accuse us of theft and used to claim that they would catch all our wrongdoings. Now they are claiming that they are helping us. The hide and seek game they are playing must stop,” said BJD Spokesperson Pratap Deb.

Notably, main opposition Congress has been raking up this ‘BJP-BJD internal understanding’ issue time and again. Most recently AICC Vice President Rahul Gandhi, in a tour of Odisha last September, had also accused the BJD and BJP of reaching a “compromise”.