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Bhadrak: At a time when the BJD is stressing on maintaining equidistance from the Congress and the BJP, the ruling party has secretly formed a pact with the Congress to keep another opposition party, BJP at bay in Chandbali block of the district, claimed the district president of BJD.
Even as the BJP has been making allegations of an ‘unholy’ nexus between the ruling party and the Congress after the last Panchayat polls results, this time, the allegation has been levelled by none other than Pratap Baral, the district president of BJD who recently tendered his resignation from the post.
Earlier during the panchayat polls, the saffron party has alleged of a secret pact between the BJD and the Congress when the latter won the Block Vice-chairman elections to Chandbali, despite a majority of the ruling party.
Out of the 36 Samiti member seats, the BJD had won 22 while the Congress and the BJP won seven each. As per the calculations, both the chairman and the vice-chairman posts should have gone to the BJD. However, while the BJD grabbed the chairman post, a member from the Congress was made the vice-chairman.
Now, Baral who was also the district party president during the Panchayat polls has opened up about it. Baral alleged that even though he had opposed a move to elect a Congress member as the block vice-chairman, and had apprised the State party president about his displeasure over the matter, the BJD made a way for the Congress due to prior commitment of the local BJD MLA to the Opposition party.
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“I had vehemently opposed the move in front of all leaders, but the MLA said that he had promised a seat to the Congress,” said Baral.
Senior BJP leader Manmohan Samal said that BJD was apprehensive that it may lose the MLA seat to the BJP during the 2019 polls. Therefore, as part of a political strategy it had decided to support the Congress for the required 30,000 votes with help of which it could check mate BJP, he added.
Asked about the mater, MLA Byomkesh Ray declined to comment anything about it.
