The BJP on Tuesday staged a demonstration before the Raj Bhavan here protesting against the illegal land and house deal by the State Government, particularly possession of more than one Government land and house.
The party also submitted a memorandum to the Governor urging him to direct the Government to order a CBI probe into the entire land scam in and around the capital city and Cuttack from the year 2000. A delegation led by BJP State president KV Singh Deo called on Governor SC Jamir at the Raj Bhavan and requested him through the memorandum to use his good offices to direct the Government to order a CBI inquiry into the land and house allotment scam to ensure that the guilty is punished, to stop the broad daylight loot by the rulers and restoration of rule of law.
The memorandum said the Taskforce constituted by the Government comprising some serving bureaucrats to inquire into the scam is mere eyewash and would not yield any result.
The CAG in its report, the memorandum said, has already exposed the irregularities, nepotism in the allotment of thousands of acres of land to various persons and organisations since Naveen Patnaik assumed power in 2000. A former Minister and present Rajya Sabha member, his MlA-son, senior bureaucrats and BJD functionaries were fraudulently allotted around 200 acres of forestland and lands belonging to the Bhubaneswar Development Authority and Revenue and General Administration Departments in the full knowledge and concurrence of the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister himself is a party to the deal, the memorandum alleged.
Quoting the CAG report, the BJP alleged that thousands of acres of land has been allotted by the IDCO, BDA, CDA and State Housing Board at a pittance, arbitrarily flouting all norms and procedures and bypassing the auction route to select a few, who have benefitted hugely at the cost of the State.
The BJP alleged that the inaction of the Government to formulate a suitable policy for land allotment during the last 12 years despite the High Court’s order in 2002 has fuelled corruption and led to massive loss of revenue and led to flourishing of land mafias in the State.The delegation included Bijay Mohapatra, Basanta Panda, Pruthwiraj Harichandan, Nayan Mohanty and Dillip Mohanty.