‘BJD patronised, gave money to Maoists’

Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s ex-colleague and former Union minister Braja Kishore Tripathy on Tuesday dropped a bombshell by alleging that the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) had patronised the Maoists by giving them financial support for its political and electoral gains.

He even claimed that the BJD had transferred Rs 45 lakh from its bank account to the personal bank account of Orissa Maobadi Party chief Sabyasachi Panda. “I am in possession of documents that an amount of Rs 45 lakh has been transferred from BJD Account No 10091755246 to Sabyasachi Panda’s ICICI Bank Chhatrapur branch Account No 203601501728 through cheque number 441630,” Mr Tripathy told reporters in New Delhi.

He said he would reveal the other details and make the transaction documents public at an “appropriate” time.

“How come money has been transferred from the BJD party’s bank account to that of Sabyasachi Panda who is known for his extremist views and is now in jail The party’s bank account operates in the chief minister’s name since the party was formed in 1997. This clearly indicates that the CM has patronised Maoists who have now spread their operations to 18 out of 30 districts of the state. The CM has utilised Maoists for his party’s electoral and political gains,” Mr Tripathy alleged.

He informed that he had written to the Prime Minister to order an inquiry into the matter. On the other hand, the BJD has refuted the charges, calling them as baseless and unrealistic.

“Everybody knows that our party has been consistently trying to bring the Left-wing extremism forces s into the mainstream. The allegation that the BJD has extended financial assistance to Maoists is not correct. BJD has taken up several programmes in Maoist infested areas. These allegations are baseless and unrealistic. I can firmly say that BJD has no Maoist links,” said BJD spokesperson Amar Prasad Satapathy.