Bhubaneswar: Elected representatives of Tirtol including Zilla Parishad members on Sunday met Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik here and lodged complaints against party MLA from Tirtol Rajashree Mallick alleging the legislator is weakening the party organization.
After a meeting with the party supremo, Rajat Patra, Raghunathpur block Chairman, said, “We lodged a complaint against Tirtol MLA Rajashree Mallick alleging she is neglecting party leaders at the grass root level leading to a division among the party members. Besides she is having links with the arrested Dhalasamant brothers. Along with liquor mafia Chicken babu and Litu Mohapatra, she is playing dirty politics.”
Sarojkant Swain, Raghunathpur Zilla Parishad member, who was also part of the team that met the party supremo, said, “The party organization is collapsing. Whenever Rajashree Mallick goes to a function at panchayat level, she is accompanied with a posse of security. Are the party leaders so bad?”
Terming the charges against her as ‘baseless’, Mallick said, “Their allegations are baseless. My style of functioning in the past two years is not going well with them. Earlier, they were just using the earlier MLAs.”
She further stated, “I am using my mind during work. Why should I go by anyone else? Allegations are being made I am going by the words of Damodar Rout and Chirnajibi Biswal. While Rout is a minister and father-like figure to me, Biswal is Jagatsinghpur MLA and from an Opposition party.”
She asked, “Why should not I have rapport with them? After all they are human beings.”
“Allegations are brought by our party people whose interest is being hampered causing defame to the party.” Mallick said.
Meanwhile, commenting on the allegation, Minister Damodar Rout said, “I do not go to any other constituency and don’t interfere in their matter. Bishnu Das has been district president for past 15 years and is elected for the same post this year also. However, he has not either organised any party workers’s meeting or talked to me on party affairs. Besides, Rajashree Mallick is opposing Das who faced defeat as the party’s Jagatsinghpur candidate in the recent polls.
Rout further said, “Das wants to defame Mallick so that he will become the party’s candidate for Tirtol.”
BJD leader Bishnu Das said, “For many days the elected representatives of Tirtol at the grassroot level were trying to meet the party supremo to submit a report. They have also given a copy of the report to me.”
Das added, “If the party president asks for a report on the basis of the complaints, I will definitely submit one. From 1997 I have been district president and have worked for the party in Paradeep. If people and the party will wish, I am ready to fight polls from Paradeep as well.”