Odisha politics has turned red-hot over BJD president Naveen Patnaik’s plan to set up the ‘Biju Naveen Inspirational Foundation’ in Delhi.
While BJP MLAs have repeatedly raised the issue in the Assembly to corner the BJD, anonymous posters questioning the trust appeared today at key locations in the capital, triggering a fresh war of words between the two parties.
The mysterious posters, put up at AG Chowk, 120 Battalion Chowk and Rabindra Mandap Chowk, carried the pointed message: “Trust in Delhi for whose interest? Naveen Patnaik, give an answer!”
BJD MLA Dhruba Sahu termed the posters “a complete low-level conspiracy” and said those behind them always attack from the back. “Odisha knows the sacrifices of Naveen Patnaik and his family. Biju Babu donated everything he had, and Naveen Babu handed over his ancestral Anand Bhawan in Cuttack to the state government. No amount of false propaganda can tarnish his clean image,” Sahu asserted.
BJD chief whip Pramila Mallick echoed the sentiment: “If Naveen Babu sets up a trust in his father’s name, what business is it of others? He has not taken even a single rupee from Odisha.”
BJP MLA Santosh Khatua, however, denied any role of his party in the poster campaign. “BJP does not indulge in such acts,” he said, adding that internal differences within some parties could be the reason. At the same time, he demanded transparency from Naveen Patnaik. “If the opposition and the public are asking questions about the Biju Naveen Trust, he must answer. He is accountable to the people. Posters have come up in the capital today; tomorrow they may appear in villages. Naveen Babu should tell the truth,” Khatua stated. He also blamed those involved in corruption and siphoning off public money for creating the present situation.
