Bishnu-Dama Spat Reaches New Heights

Bhubaneswar: Two days after his expulsion from the BJD, the altercation between Damodar Rout and his arch-rival and Jagatsinghpur District BJD president Bishnu Das has reached new heights.

In a media briefing on Friday, Das said he came to know from the media that Rout has decided to launch his campaign against the BJD like Anna Hazare. “It is utterly ridiculous. Why Anna Hazare? Let him be like Jayaprakash Narayan. Where is Anna and where is Dama? Was Anna indulging in corruption?” Das sneered.

Stating that Dama had begun his career in corruption, he said the expelled leader was framed with corruption charges during his tenure as a veterinary doctor in 1974.

He further said that Dama had joined the Janata Dal after he was introduced to Biju Patnaik through Pratap Mohanty.

Jeering at the statement of Das, Dama said, “Was he the vigilance director when I was the veterinary doctor in 1974? How could he know that I was framed with corruption charges when he was a minor at that time? After completing my degree in Veterinary in 1968, I was the Information Officer for six years. I became MLA in 1977. How could he know about the corruption in 1974? He was a wayward youth and used to eat ‘gulugula’ (a mixture of wheat and sugar) in Somnath Haat. Seeing his pitiable plight, I brought him to politics and gave him the party ticket. He should not be compared with me as he is not my contemporary.”

He also went on to say that Das showed his true character within six months after he became the School and Mass Education Minister in the Naveen Patnaik ministry. “He was kicked out of the ministry after he was found guilty of fraudulently increasing his son’s annual HSC marks,” Dama pointed out.