Leader of Opposition has lost mental balance, says Odisha Min Arun Sahoo

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, May 4: 

Odisha politics got murkier today as the ruling party took strong exception to the questions raised by Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra yesterday and said that Mishra has lost his mental balance.

Instead of Chief Minister, Law Minister Arun Sahoo today made a statement in the House amidst ruckus and said that Mishra has lost “mental balance” and demanded an “unconditional apology” for misleading the House.

“The statement of the Leader of the Opposition is not based on facts and truth. He has misled Odisha and the House. This is a serious offence. He has lost mental balance due to old age,” was the curt response of Law Minister Arun Sahoo in the House today.

Taking the assault outside the Assembly, Sahoo said that the veteran leader has made such comments in the past and has apologized for them too.

“This is not the first time he is making such a remark. Earlier, he stalled the proceeding of the house over an alleged misbehaviour of a girl and later apologized. He did it again on the issue of an alleged notice being served on Tara Prasad Bahinipati and later apologized too. He misled the House and wasted precious time yesterday and this time should be no different. He needs to apologise unconditionally. The leader is playing with his words to create an impression that our party is linked with chit fund scamsters,” said Sahoo briefing reporters further on the issue outside the Assembly.

Sahoo further went on to explain the people and the account in question.

“The Srikrushna Padhi he is talking about is son of Purna Chandra Padhi and belongs to Dahisada village under Soro police limits of Balasore district. He is in jail. The Purna Chandra Padhi — who is a BJD worker — belongs to Ratha Sahi village under Purushottampur police limits of Ganjam district. The Leader of Opposition perhaps imagined the former Purna Chandra Padhi to be the BJD worker and asked the questions,” he added.

The account he spoke of is a party account and has been audited by Income tax Department. The fund we have received is from General Electoral Trust. This trust has also funded Congress, BJP and other regional parties. This data has been already furnished by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in their website, said Arun.

Reacting to the developments, Leader of Opposition Mishra attempted to make a statement in the House; however, was unable to speak amidst uproar.

Later he took to twitter and wrote, “Prepared to make a statement in the Assembly but anyone speaking against the CM is not allowed to speak even after speaker allowed. Unlike @Naveen_Odisha we don’t escape from making a statement or facing the media. Difference is we are shouting for the CM to make a statement and they’re shouting us down when we want to respond. #bjdkillingdemocracy”.

He further spoke to reporters outside the Assembly and called Arun’s choice of words against him “his master’s voice”.