Differences in the Jagatsinghpur unit of the BJD came to the fore once again as senior party leader and Minister Dr Damodar Rout organised a Mahanadi Bachao Samavesh at Kujang in the absence of district president and Rajya Sabha member Bishnu Das and MlAs of the district.
The meeting was attended by MP Kulamani Samal, Umesh Swain and Banki MlA Pravat Tripathy. While Rout said he has every right to hold meeting for protection of Mahanadi water in favour of Odisha, district president Das said Rout held the programme on his own. “Neither I nor State president was informed about the meeting,” Das said.
Rout said Das had no business with the meeting. “I don’t know Das is the district president,” he said. However, party vice-president and spokesperson Surjya Narayan Patro said the Minister has every right to hold a meeting on Mahanadi.