Bhubaneswar: The intra-party wrangling in the ruling BJD turned murkier on Tuesday after party vice-president and Excise minister Damodar Rout addressed MLAs Debasis Samantary, Pratap Jena and, his arch-rival and Rajya Sabha MP Bishnu Charan Das as ‘ghosts’.
The Jagatsinghpur legislator described the three senior leaders of the party as ghosts while narrating about a government programme in Jagatsinghpur district.
“After chief minister Naveen Patnaik performed the ground breaking ceremony of a canal modernization project in the district, I was about to leave the place. But the CM called me and asked to sit inside his vehicle. When I entered the Bolero vehicle, I saw three ghosts- Jena, Das and Samantaray inside it,” Rout said.
“They didn’t leave an inch space for me so that I can sit comfortably,” the minister added.
Rout’s remark against the party leaders is seen as troubles for BJD, when the regional party is gearing up to strengthen its base ahead of Panchayat polls in January next year.
The irrepressible Jagatsinghpur strongman, once considered to be the closest of Naveen Patnaik continued to spew venom at the leaders.
“They all are in politics only for me as I had pursued them to be in politics. Now when comes the Cuttack affair, they are asking who am I? said he.
On this the BJD said the senior leaders should speak up about his disgruntling before the party president.
“If any such leader of the repute like Rout has any issues, he should directly discuss it with the party president. He should not criticize the party legislators in public,” BJD spokesman Sameer Das said.