Three days after former Union Minister Braja Kishore Tripathy charged that that the BJD transferred Rs45 lakh to Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, the ruling party on Friday refuted the allegation.
Party leaders explained that Rs45 lakh was given to party leaders through a cheque on April 10, 2014 for election purpose.
Minister Debi Prasad Mishra told reporters here that money was transferred to party candidates including Motiram Nayak, Prafulla Pangi, Sakuntala laguri, Nagendra Pradhan, Saheb Sushil Hansdah and Rajib Patra with Rs5 lakh each and Rs7.5 lakh each to Dilip Tirkey and Balabhadra Majhi. He explained that the money was transferred through the Bhubaneswar-based SBI Rajpath branch cheque number 441630.
He demanded that Braja Tripathy tender an unconditional apology for making baseless allegation. Meanwhile, Tripathy said giving Rs45 lakh in a single cheque to eight persons is impossible and said the BJD is hoodwinking people.