No question of supporting J B Patnaik’s Govt: BJD

BHUBANESWAR, Feb 15: Union Minister for Steel and Mines and President of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Naveen Patnaik has asserted that there is no question of his party extending support to J B Patnaik to form an alternative Government in the State.

“The idea is preposterous,” Patnaik told The Indian Express, refuting reports appearing in a section of the press in this regard. Asserting that there has been no discussion between the BJD and J B Patnaik in this regard, Patnaik maintained that his party had no plans to have an alliance with J B Patnaik. According to him, J B Patnaik’s name is synonymous with crime and rising atrocities on women.

“How can the BJD, which had demanded J B Patnaik’s ouster and imposition of President’s Rule in Orissa, join hands with him to form an alternative Government ?” the BJD chief asked.

The Union Minister maintained that for the last several months, the BJD has been highlighting the misrule of the Congress Government in the State and added that it would continue to do so. However, BJD MLA Panchanan Kanungo maintained that if there is a division in the State Congress, his party will extend support to the alternative Government from the outside.