Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday went all out against the BJP saying it has blocked the flow of Mahanadi water to Odisha.
“The Mahanadi river bed is about to dry up due to non-release of upstream water by the Chhattisgarh government. We had urged the Centre to constitute a tribunal to resolve the standoff, but our appeal fell on deaf ears. At last, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to form the tribunal. I urge all my party workers and colleagues to reach out to the people and convince them of the ground reality,” he said while addressing the party MPs, MLAs and civic body chairpersons from 15 districts at a symposium on Mahanadi water dispute at party office here.
He further said the state government has launched a programme called ‘Green Mahanadi’ under which lakhs of trees will be planted on both sides of Mahanadi river to save and protect its biodiversity.
Citing the Mahanadi issue, Rajya Sabha member Soumya Ranjan Patnaik said this is how development of a state is stalled due to the lackadaisical attitude of the Centre in a federal structure.
“As we are a regional party and can never come to power at Centre, we will always remain in such precarious condition than an adopted child and never be a part of the federalism due to differences in political ideologies,” Patnaik observed and extorted the party workers to work together and fight the upcoming elections on Mahanadi issue.
Stating that his party has regained its self-confidence after the Bijepur bypoll, Patnaik sought a clarification from the BJP. “We will ask the BJP, which is bigger, the state or the party. If the state is greater for them, then why they are fighting for other state on Mahanadi water?” he asked.
Throwing a challenge at Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Patnaik said he has a proposal for him. “If he wants to go to Parliament, we will leave one seat for him. I am ready to vacate my seat for him to prove that the state is more important to him rather than the party,” he added.
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