Tathagata takes a U-turn, calls himself a rat!

Odisha Sun Times Bureau 
Bhubaneswar, Apr 16:

Only a day after launching a veiled attack on Odisha Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare (FS&CW) Minister Sanjay Das Burma and calling him a “rat” for his alleged involvement in Odisha chit fund scam and AT Group, BJD Dhenkanal MP Tathagata Satpathy today took a u-turn.

“The journalists are the biggest rats. Being a journalist, I myself am a rat,” said Satpathy, who edits two local newspapers.

“I don’t play cricket. That’s why I don’t keep a tab on scores,” he added taking a jibe at BJD Spokesperson Amar Prasad Satpathy who had yesterday urged BJD leaders to refrain from “scoring” against each other.

Interestingly, Satpathy along with Puri MP Pinaki Mishra today met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in his office.

While Satpathy stated that he met Patnaik to discuss scarcity of drinking water in Dhenkanal and Mishra stated that he also raised various issues of his constituency with the Chief Minister, power corridor was abuzz that the Chief Minister discussed the Sanjay Das Burma issue with both of them.

Sources in the power corridor maintained that the Chief Minister consulted the legal aspects with Mishra and reprimanded Satpathy for making the ‘rat’ comment.

“There are many rats in the godowns of FCI across the country. They chew away the sacks and eat the rice, sugar and wheat stored in there. Does that mean we should throwaway all the grains stacked up there! Throwing away won’t be logical. Instead, it is important to find out the rats and set cages for them,” Satpathy had said yesterday speaking on the Das Burma controversy, but without taking the FS&CW Minister’s name.

It may be noted that apart from Satpathy, Leader of Biju Janata Dal Parliamentary Party in Lok Sabha Bhartruhari Mahatab, Excise Minister Damodar Rout and Sambalpur MP Nagendra Pradhan have also made public statements against Sanjay Das Burma over his alleged links with chit fund company AT group.