Tuesday, Apr 16, 2024 | Last Update : 07:59 PM IST
Orissa BJP squirms over leader’s disease quip
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which found itself in an awkward situation after finding fault with the Orissa government on Mahanadi water-sharing issue, has faced similar embarrassment after it so
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which found itself in an awkward situation after finding fault with the Orissa government on Mahanadi water-sharing issue, has faced similar embarrassment after it solely targeted the ruling BJD for the spread of Japanese Encephalitis in Malkangiri and Koraput districts.
Senior BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra has said that along with the BJD government, the Centre is equally responsible for the outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis that has claimed the lives of more than 50 children in these districts so far.
“In fact, the Centre, too, has a role in the immunisation programme. It has research institutes and the necessary specialisation. The Centre didn’t act and the state government fail-ed. As a result of which pe-ople are suffering,” Mr Mo-hapatra said on Thursday.
His remark has apparently taken the steam out of the saffron party’s unilateral attack on the Naveen Patnaik government. The BJP leaders till date were accusing the regional party of not being able to foresee the outbreak of the disease and failing to check its spread from one district to another.
The BJP encountered similar situation in the Mahanadi water sharing issue. While it blamed the Orissa government for keeping mum on the construction of barrages over the Mahanadi river by the Raman Singh government of Chhattisgarh, Mr Mohapatra took a different line.
He said the Chhattisgarh government and the Centre would have taken the Orissa government into confidence while facilitating construction works on the Mahanadi river in its upper catchment areas.
The differing voice of Mr Mohapatra, widely seen as the enemy number one of Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, has put the state BJP unit on the back foot. The saffron party, however, preferred to distance itself from the veteran leader’s statement, terming it could be his personal opinion.”
“See, that could be his (Bijoy Mohapatra’s) personal opinion. The BJP’s official stand is that due to the inefficiency of the state government, children are dying. The Centre is always ready to extend whatever help the state may require,” said BJP spokesperson Golakh Mohapatra.
