Kendrapara: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday made another sharp personal attack on former MP Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda accusing the latter of focusing on rail connectivity to his own industry and not the Kendrapapra district thereby breaching trust of the people in the district.
Addressing an election rally in Rajnagar assembly segment, part of Kendrapada parliamentary constituency where Baijayant is in the fray as BJP nominee, Patnaik said, “I felt let down when a senior Union Minister told me that the local MP was asking for rail connectivity to his own industry while you (Naveen) was consistently demanding rail networks for the coastal district.”
Elections in the Kendrapara parliamentary constituency, considered a BJD fort in the coastal region, are scheduled on April 29.
“Kendrapara is the Karma Bhoomi of Biju babu. It’s development is my responsibility,” said Patnaik seeking vote for while seeking vote for BJD nominee Anubhav Mohanty, an Odia film start and Rajya Sabha member.
The industrialist-turned-politician was a Rajya Sabha member twice and he was elected to Lok Sabha in 2009 and 2014 from Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat on a BJD ticket.
Earlier, Patnaik accused the BJP national vice-president for spreading rumor about his ill health.
Patnaik had suspended Panda in January, last year. Five months later, he resigned from both the party and as an MP. He joined BJP in March.
