Elated over the Supreme Court’s order on Tuesday directing the Centre to set up a tribunal in a month’s time to resolve Mahanadi dispute, the BJD said its allegation of the BJP-led Union Government taking an anti-Odisha stand and supporting Chhattisgarh has been vindicated.
“The BJD waged a lonely battle against Chhattisgarh while the NDA Government preferred to silently support Chhattisgarh. With the Supreme Court’s order, the Centre’s anti-Odisha stand, doublespeak and support to Chhattisgarh have been exposed,” said the BJD in a statement.
The party said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik fought tooth and nail while the stand of the Odisha BJP and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was never clear. First, they talked about the need for a Joint Control Board and then for a River Board; and their stand for a tribunal was never clear.
“The BJP in Odisha has openly worked as a spokesperson of Chhattisgarh; and in doing so, it has done a great disservice to their own State and its people. Union Ministers like Dharmendra Pradhan have been changing stands suiting the interests of the Central Government and the BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh Government. The BJP today stands exposed with its doublespeak and anti-Odisha stand. The people of Odisha will never forget or forgive the BJP’s betrayal on the issue of Mahanadi,” added the BJD release.