Hitting out at the BJP and Congress over the Mahanadi river water dispute with Chhattisgarh, the BJD on Friday accused both the parties of adopting an anti-Odisha attitude by continuing to be mute spectators in the longstanding issue.

Addressing a Press meet, BJD spokesperson Shreemayee Mishra and panelist Swayam Prakash Mahapatra said the party condemns the attitude of BJP and Congress and asked the BJP to demand its Central Government to intervene immediately and resolve the issue.

“If the Odisha BJP and Odisha Congress still continue to be silent on the Mahanadi river water dispute and do not get their party-run Governments at the Centre and in Chhattisgarh, respectively, to intervene in this matter, it will be well-known that all their crocodile tears are meant only for cheap politics and not for the welfare of the people of Odisha,” they said.

When it was found in 2017 that Chhattisgarh was constructing barrages on the upstream of Mahanadi, the Odisha Government demanded that Chhattisgarh stop this illegal activity and urged the Centre to intervene and hold a tripartite meeting in Delhi with the Centre along with Chhattisgarh Government to resolve the matter. But an Odia Union Minister, instead of standing for the interests of people of Odisha, supported Chhattisgarh and tried to pressurise the Odisha Government to cooperate with the neighbouring State, the BJD spokesperson said.

“Odisha Government then approached the Supreme Court, after which a Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal for adjudication under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 was constituted. While BJD fought strenuously for Mahanadi and the people of Odisha, BJP leaders in the State were silent. Despite five years having passed since the Mahanadi Tribunal was formed in 2018, there is no progress. Today, Chhattisgarh is governed by the Congress party, but Odisha Congress leaders have now gone conveniently silent. The Mahanadi issue has exposed the intentions of the BJP and the Congress,” the BJD spokesperson said.