Excise and Cooperation Minister Damodar Rout seems to be in for trouble for his repeated off-the-cuff political utterances, particularly about intra-BJD affairs.
In an apparent green signal from BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, party spokesperson and MlA Samir Das on Monday deprecated Rout’s statements and said the senior Cabinet Minister should be restrained from his habit.
In another significant development, two Ministers Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak and Pranab Prakash Das and party MlA Debashis Samantaray had a meeting at Samantaray’s house in Cuttack on Sunday night, reportedly on Rout’s conduct in the party.
Samantaray, considered to be close to Naveen Patnaik, has been targeted by Rout on Samantaray’s standing in the party.
Jagatsinghpur district BJD president and former Minister Bishnu Das, who has been at loggerheads with Rout in the district BJD politics over a long period, on Monday renewed his demand for action against Rout for his “anti-party” activity.