The ruling BJD has indicated that the party is not in favour of giving protection to any of its leaders involved in the chit fund scam.
This was evident as the CBI grilled Banki MlA and former BJD Chief Whip in Assembly Pravat Tripathy for six hours on Tuesday. The party has made it clear that the concerned leader would fight his own case before the CBI.
“Any leader involved in corruption case will be responsible for his activities. The party will not tolerate any wrongdoings,” BJD spokesperson Rabi Narayan Nanda said, replying a question on the CBI grilling of Tripathy.
“The CBI probe into the chit fund scam is on and the law will take its course. The Banki MlA would be responsible for his act,” another BJD spokesperson, Amar Satpathy, said.
Satpathy also rejected the possibility of the party’s image being tarnished in the chit fund scam. He claimed party supremo Naveen Patnaik’s image would remain intact as it was earlier.
“Why should it affect the image of the party or its leader if someone does something wrongIJ The party did not ask anybody to indulge in this. Naveen Patnaik has always been for transparency and for the guilty to be punished,” Satpathy said. The BJP said the jail at Jharpada would soon be filled with BJD leaders as many others would be arrested in the scam. “The BJD leaders will celebrate this year’s Dussehra in jail,” BJP spokesperson Suresh Pujari remarked. State Congress president Jayadev Jena also said that the chit fund scam has exposed the image of the BJD and its leader Naveen Patnaik.