Now act against the corrupt, Ghadai tells Odisha CM

Reported by Chinmaya Dehury
Bhubaneswar, Sep 21:

A day after he was expelled from the BJD for anti-party activities, former Finance minister Prafulla Ghadai today hoped that the party supremo and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik would act equally tough against party leaders involved in scams and corruptions.

“The BJD president has every right to expel me. However, the people of the country also expect that action should also be taken against the leaders involved in the scams,” Ghadai told reporters here.

Even though he did not name anyone, there was little doubt that his comment was directed at his arch rival Kalpataru Das, whose family has been entangled in land and chit fund scams causing embarrassment to the party and the government.

Besides, several BJD leaders are reportedly under the scanner while some have already been interrogated in this connection by CBI. However, the chief minister has remained silent over the issue.

The expelled BJD leader also questioned the way he was expelled from the party without giving him an opportunity to make his stand clear. “The president should have issued show cause notice and could have suspended….but he abruptly expelled me,” said a disgruntled Ghadai. He said he would spend his remaining time serving the people.

He, however, said he would continue to support the ruling party.

Justifying the decision of Naveen Patnaik, party spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb said Ghadai had left no option for the party but to expel him. “Ghadai must admit that the president has every right to take action against the indiscipline activities. It is not the first time action has been taken against anyone. The president has always taken indiscipline seriously and has taken action accordingly,” said Deb.