Odisha Sports Minister launches scathing attack on BJD over Kalinga Stadium incident

Suryabanshi Suraj, the Sports and Youth Affairs Minister, voiced harsh criticism on Tuesday against Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD), following an incident at Kalinga Stadium where a government vehicle recently drove onto the athletics track and was parked on it.

Minister Suraj assured the public that the track remained undamaged, dismissing the BJD's subsequent uproar as unfounded.

The Sports Minister made a pointed reference to the BJD’s practices during 2024 General Elections, highlighting the use of helicopters in various stadiums, and questioned the wisdom of such actions, conveying that this reflects a lack of maturity on the part of BJD.

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The Minister specifically criticised an unnamed senior BJD leader, who is believed to be V.K. Pandian, suggesting that the actions he described were misleading. Minister Suraj claimed that BJD leaders are swayed by opinions from ‘Bhairabanand Sanyasi’ at Naveen Niwas, leading to internal party tensions.

Suraj alluded to previous disputes, such as the disruptions during BJD foundation day and the launch of Ruben Banerjee’s book, implying that these were manoeuvres to distract from substantive issues faced by the party.

In a statement, the BJD responded, accusing the sports minister of failing to address queries adequately.

“An athletic track is meant for athletes and running vehicles on the track will obviously damage it. When the minister was asked what compelled him to run his vehicle on the track, the minister remained tight-lipped and described it to be an emergent situation,” senior BJD leader Lenin Mohanty expressed.

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Reacting to this, Sports Minister Suraj stated, “The things occurred due to an emergent situation. I would assure that a single inch has not been damaged in the incident. The way the party (BJD) is making it an issue is not desirable.”

“No one is born mature. However, when they (BJD leaders) were running helicopters on tracks at different stadiums, was that a mature behaviour?” the Minister questioned.

“Except all including ministers, only one person (V.K. Pandian) was being allowed to Kalinga Stadium. He used to make reels and upload those on social media,” Minister Suraj added.