Over ten long days after Dhenkanal BJD MP Tathagata Satpathy called former Minister and party colleague Debi Prasad Mishra a ‘Chor’ (thief), he on Sunday termed his remark as “a slip of tongue”.
Satpathy amended his statement after he and Mishra met party supremo Naveen Patnaik at his residence here apparently for a compromise obviously at Patnaik’s instance.
And he had earlier regretted his anti-Mishra comment as “my characteristic flaw”.
But Satpathy is still silent over his remark that Chief Minister Patnaik has thrown out “some Chors” from his Ministry, but there are also “many other Chors” in it. “How many Chors can Naveen Pataik remove from his teamIJ’ he had wondered at a public meeting.
Amusingly, as a dramatic act, Satpathy and Mishra went to the Naveen Niwas in the same car and were accompanied by the party’s Jajpur MlA Pranab Prakash Das and Rajya Sabha member Pratap Keshari Deb.
“It was a slip of tongue. I expressed my regret over my remark. We are friends, and we don’t have any bitter feelings among us,” Satpathy said after the meeting with Patnaik.
The lok Sabha MP also Twitted: After meeting Hon’ble CM today with Debibabu, Bobbybabu and Pratapbabu, resolved to strengthen BJD against fascist forces.
Debi Prasad Mishra said, “Tathagata is a dear friend of mine. He has already spoken in public forum. We both talked about the issue in front of Chief Minister.”
Notably, Naveen Patnaik had on June 8 sought an explanation from Satpathy for his remark against Mishra, a party vice-president, at a meeting at Hindol in Satpathy’s constituency.
The following day, Satpathy was quick to express his regret over his diatribe against Mishra, saying such a statement was his “characteristic flaw”.
The MP was soon later asked by Naveen Patnaik to give an explanation over his remarks. Now after the Naveen Niwas episode, Satpathy may not have to show cause, according to political observers.