PCC takes up Mahanadi issue with Rahul

Bhubaneswar: Congress Legislature Party (CLP) led by its leader Narasingh Mishra today met Congress vice president at his residence in New Delhi to discuss various issues including the ongoing Mahanadi row and malnutrition deaths in Odisha.

Talking to media persons after the meeting, AICC leader and Odisha in-charge BK Hariprasad said the CLP members in his presence discussed the ongoing row between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over the sharing of Mahanadi water.

“The CLP leader briefed Rahul Gandhi about the Mahanadi issue and the follow-up action taken by the Odisha government so far. In his reply, Rahul said it is the duty of the Prime Minister to call up the chief ministers of both the states to resolve the issue,” Hariprasad said.

To a question on the state of malnutrition in Odisha, Hariprasad said Odisha ranks number one state in the country on malnutrition. “Though several children have died in Nagada village in Jajpur district and several villages in Malkangiri district, the state government has not taken any concrete step in this regard till date,” he pointed out.

He, however, said no discussion was held on the ensuing Panchayat elections in Odisha. “The party will have a meeting in this regard in Bhubaneswar and not in Delhi,” he pointed out.

Prior to the meeting, the 16 CLP members including its leader had a meeting with Hariprasad at the AICC office in New Delhi yesterday.

Also read: Cong urges Prez to stop Chhattisgarh’s Mahanadi projects

Notably, the CLP members had taken up Mahanadi issue with the President of India Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi recently and sought his intervention to resolve the issue.