Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik continues to support his beleaguered Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjay Dasburma, who is facing various charges of corruption including involvement in the chit fund scam.
This is evident from the ruling BJD spokespersons’ persistent warning to the party’s senior leaders who have been airing views in favour of Dasburma quitting the Ministry on moral ground.
The party spokespersons have made it amply clear that Naveen Patnaik, who is also the BJD president, wants party leaders to refrain from speaking out on the Dasburma issue or else they would be made liable for disciplinary action in the organisation.
BJD spokesperson Sameer Dash reiterated on Saturday that any defiance of the Chief Minister’s whip would prompt action by the party supremo.
“It is the party head and Chief Minister who has advised all party members, including MPs, MlAs and Ministers, not to make statements except their concerned departments and areas of activities. We all should go by the advice. Any deviation from it would not be excused and attract action from the party’s president,” Dash told reporters here. The statement of Dash came two days after senior party leader and Jagatsinghpur district unit president Bishnu Charan Das made “negative” comments involving Dasburma in the media.
Notably, a day after CM issued whip, Bishnu Charan Das, citing his own past example, had said that Dasburma must resign on moral grounds,
Meanwhile, when asked about the statement of spokesperson Dash about possible action against the defiant leaders, Minister Damodar Rout, who was earlier critical of Dasburma, promptly said there was no scope for action against him.
“There is no scope to take action against me. Instead, sufficient grounds are there for action against the person who is saying this,” remarked Rout.
However, Rout and some other party leaders who had earlier been vociferously in favout of Dasburma’s ouster from the Ministry have desisted from doing so following the Chief Minister’s whip through party spokespersons.