The BJD on Thursday moved a privilege motion against Union Minister of State for Water Resources Sanjeev Balyan for his statement in the lok Sabha on the Mahanadi water dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.
BJD leader in lok Sabha Bhartruhari Mahtab moved the motion.
The BJD’s decision to move the motion came after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik accused Balyan of misleading the Parliament.
Meanwhile, Balyan said he had made his statement on the basis of the data produced by the Chhattisgarh Government.
“I have not made any misleading statements. Whatever I informed the lok Sabha was based on the information shared by the Chhattisgarh Government,” said Balyan, adding that he was ready to face the motion.
Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti too came out in support of Balyan stating that the allegations of the BJD are baseless.
“If the BJD is doing this with a political motive then we have nothing to say,” Bharti had stated.
Notably, Balyan had told in the lok Sabha that the DPR of the Kelo project on the Mahanadi had been sent to Odisha in 2006 and the project was approved in 2009. He questioned why the Odisha Government had not opposed the project then.
Meanwhile, a tripartite meeting between the Centre and the Odisha and Chhattisgarh Governments would be held at 3 pm at the Shram Shakti Bhawan in New Delhi on Friday over Chhattisgarh’s construction of dams on the Mahanadi upstream.
The meeting to be chaired by the Union Water Resources Secretary would be attended by the Chief Secretaries of both Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
Though the Centre had arranged a meeting between Odisha and Chhattisgarh on June 27, the meeting was deferred as the Odisha Government sought more time.
Meanwhile, as part of its protest in 15 districts, for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday the BJD staged a demonstration in front of the Subarnapur Collectorate against the constriction of barrages.