Bhubaneswar: BJP national vice-president Baijayant Jay Panda on Thursday came down heavily on BJD president Naveen Patnaik for his remarks during declaration of the list of candidates for the third phase of elections.
Mr Patnaik’s statement intended at Mr Panda was strongly responded to by the senior BJP leader on Twitter.
While announcing Anubhav Mohanty as the party’s Kendrapara Lok Sabha candidate against Mr Panda, Mr Patnaik had on Wednesday said that the candidate “will be only working for interests of the people of Kendrapara and he will have nothing to hide in his affidavit like the earlier one (Panda) working for a mining company.”
Strongly responding to Naveen’s comments, Mr Panda expressed shock stating that he never thought the CM would stoop so low.
The former parliamentarian in a tweet mentioned that at least Naveen should be aware of his (Jay Panda) family’s 60-year-old industry with which late Biju Patnaik was very familiar and dependent, for decades.
“Didn’t think Naveen wd stoop so low,(sic)” Mr Panda tweeted.
“Also, I have never been involved in granting mining leases to companies one year before they were formed,” mentioned Mr Panda in his tweet, taking an indirect dig at the Odisha CM who is currently in soup for allegedly granting mining lease to ghost company during his stint as Union coal minister in 1998.
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