Opposition Congress and BJP on Thursday termed the State Cabinet’s decision to cancel all allotments of flat and plot under discretionary quota (DQ) and launch a Vigilance probe into the illegality as an attempt to refurbish the BJD Government’s image.
Opposing Vigilance probe into the land and plot allotments under the DQ, senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra said it is not at all acceptable. “Though the High Court had directed the State Government to prepare a master plan for allotment of land in Bhubaneswar under DQ in April 2002, no concrete action was taken. More so, the decision to probe the multiple allotments under DQ by Vigilance is not at all acceptable. Rather, an impartial inquiry should be made into the illegalities since the BJD Government is responsible for many such allotments, Mohapatra stated.
Senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra targeted the Chief Minister stating that the Government is known for not implementing its decisions. “We hope the decision will be executed in letter and spirit instead of just putting it on paper and forgetting it later as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is known for not implementing its own Cabinet’s decisions,” said Mishra. Newly-appointed Pradesh Congress president Prasad Harichandan said the Government took the steps fearing adverse comments from the court.