The controversy over the BJD’s alleged money transfer to ‘Sabyasachi Panda’ continued as former Union Minister Braja Kishore Tripathyon Saturday accused the ruling party of suppressing information from the public and claimed that the BJD has two State Bank of India accounts.
Speaking to reporters a day after the BJD held a Press conference and ‘clarified” that the Rs 45 lakh had been given to its party candidates as election expense, Tripathy said the BJD has at least two SBI accounts and demanded an investigation in this regard.
“The account number they gave yesterday is not the one they used for RTGS. They have a separate account and the one used for RTGS is 3129421044305. They have not issued any clarification over this. The money has been transferred to the ICICI Bank of Chhatrapur. They have not said anything about this either,” said Tripathy. “Besides, as per the RTGS format, money can be sent to only one beneficiary from one account. They didn’t even issue statement to justify why money was sent to different banks, different accounts. They are trying to conceal information. My demand for an investigation by a Central agency stands,” he added. The BJD, on the other hand, took strong objection to Tripathy’s allegations.
“He is at the twilight of his political career and these statements are his desperate attempt to stay relevant in politics. His allegations have not been supported by facts. Under the RTGS system, money can be sent not just to eight but also 8,000 beneficiaries. One can issue one cheque and mark the names of the beneficiaries he wants to send money to,” said BJD spokesperson Dibya Shankar Mishra.