Odisha Jan Manch (OJM) chief Pyarimohan Mohapatra on Saturday said that the OJM would organise a rally at Phiringia in Kandhamal district on Sunday on the occasionof the Madhu Jayanti.
He clarified that he would not split the BJD for strengthening his party’s base. On the contrary, he said, he would invite people to join his party and those who come suo motu would be welcomed.
“We will get the votes of the senior citizens and youths. Our party will get 80 to 85 seats in the coming Assembly elections,” Mohapatra claimed at a news conference here, adding that he needs soldiers, not ‘Senapatis’ in his party as anybody can be a Senapati by dint of his talent.
Referring to the mining scam, Mohapatra said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is himself involved in it.
“Dandapani Mohanty (former Maoist interlocutor) is no way linked with the Maoists, but after joining the OJM, he is harassed by the State Government under several pleas,” Mohapatra said.
“Since the 1950s I was linked with the Communists. Ramesh Panda was my friend. He used to come to my house very often. This is the reason the Government has entangled me with (Maoist leader) Sabyasachi Panda and (his wife) Mili Panda,” he said, lamenting on the tricks played by vested interests to link him with the Maoists. Jagneswar Babu and Kailash Mukhi, among others, were present at the Press meeet.