Bhubaneswar: Reacting sharply to Industries Minister Pratap Keshari Deb's remark on Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, the Sambad Editor today said the former has no authority to dictate terms to him.

This came hours after Deb advised Patnaik to resign from the party and write editorials, for which the latter is in the eye of the storm.

“The minister has no authority to dictate terms to me regarding my editorial and my career in BJD. He cannot issue any direction to me regarding my profession as a newspaper editor and my career as a politician and elected representative from the ruling party. The minister belongs to a royal family and perhaps he is thinking that all others are his subjects. But, I am certainly not anyone’s subject,” said Patnaik in a press conference here.

The Khandapada legislator further said that the people of Odisha have been supporting BJD and its leader Naveen Patnaik for the last 23 years. But, the popularity of the Chief Minister has come down recently as per the survey by India Today group.

“The ruling party in Odisha has been getting people’s blessings for over last two decades. BJD is not the personal property of any particular individual or group. Is it a sin to make certain advice for the betterment of the party? It is up to the BJD leadership to approve of my suggestions or reject it,” Patnaik said.

The Khandapada MLA rubbished the allegations that he had violated the party discipline by raising certain issues with regard to the governance in Odisha through his editorials.

“I have raised certain issues for the greater interests of the party. Every worker or activist in a democratic party has the right to differ on some issues. We cannot term this as an act of indiscipline,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Deb had accused Patnaik of violating the party discipline by pointing fingers at the governance model in Odisha through his editorials.

“Patnaik has violated the party discipline by criticizing the state government, the ruling party and its leadership in his editorials. He should resign from BJD and write such editorials. Patnaik got elected to the Odisha Assembly on a BJD ticket and he cannot write editorials criticizing the state government and the ruling party,” said Deb.