Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Sep 25:

A day after Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made a statement in the Assembly over the Mahanadi issue and accused opposition of “shedding crocodile tears”, both Congress and BJP today criticized him and his party.

Narasingha mishra 4

“In 2001, the Chief Minister could have stopped construction of barrages in the upper catchment of Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh while BJD was a partner in the NDA coalition government at the Centre. A BJD MP was the Union Water Resources Minister then. Why did he not act? He should have answered this point in the House. He was only trying to defend the industrialists then,” said Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra speaking to reporters today.

BJP also took on the Chief Minister and accused him of prioritising party politics over the interests of the state.

“The Chief Minister has said no to the technical expert committee. What are the alternatives before the state? Will the Chief Minister answer? BJD did not even allow a senior leader of its own party like Damodar Rout to speak on the issue. This shows its insecurity. The Chief Minister is prioritising party politics over the interests of the state,” said Odisha BJP Vice President Samir Mohanty.

BJD, on the other hand, tried to brush off the allegations without getting into specifics.

“At a time when the Chief Minister is fighting to defend the interests of the state, they are trying to reap political benefit out of Mahanadi issue. However, it won’t succeed. The way opposition parties are levelling allegations, it appears to be a deliberate attempt at misleading people,” said BJD Spokesperson Sashi Bhusan Behera.