Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Prasad Harichandan at a Press conference here on Wednesday lashed out at the role of the BJD and the BJP on the Mahanadi and Polavaram issues and said both are shedding crocodile tears.
Harichandan said that while the BJD is the left eye of the crocodile, the BJP is the right eye shedding tears. The Central Government filed an affidavit on the Mahanadi issue in the Supreme Court stating that Chhattisgarh is constructing barrages on the river for the last 10 years or more.
From 2000 to 2009, the BJD and the BJP had formed coalition Governments in Odisha. Why didn’t they oppose the construction by Chhattisgarh then, questioned Harichandan.
He pointed out that later when Odisha objected to the arbitrary constructions by Chhattisgarh, the Centre formed a Joint Control Board. But no one from Odisha was included in the board. However, when the Odisha Government filed a suit in the apex court, the Centre informed in the Parliament that by November 19, 2017 it would form a tribunal to resolve the Mahanadi row. But in the court, it filed an affidavit refusing to form a tribunal. This displays the double-faced attitude of the BJP.
By approaching the Supreme Court on the Mahanadi issue, the Odisha Government proved that it has no faith on the Centre, the PCC president said.
But on the Polavaram issue, the Odisha Chief Minister sought intervention of the Prime Minister and is trying to find an amicable solution to the issue. Then, why did his Government file a case in the Supreme Court and paid crores of rupees to lawyers from the State exchequer, Harichandan questioned. It proves that the BJD and the BJP are still hands in glove, he said.
He demanded the Centre immediately pressurise Chhattisgarh to stop all the constructions on the Mahanadi. Otherwise, it would be construed that both Chhattisgarh and Odisha are promoting industrialists at the cost of farmers, he maintained.