odisha news: Bhubaneswar,(Reporterspen), Feb 13: BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik on Thursday reprimanded Champua MLA Sanatan Mahakud for skipping a key legislature meeting and questioned whether he was aligning with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The interaction occurred at the Odisha Legislative Assembly around 10:50 AM, ahead of the budget session. On spotting Mahakud, Patnaik directly asked why he had missed the BJD legislature party meeting the previous day.
“Why didn’t you attend the party meeting yesterday?” Patnaik asked in Hindi.
Mahakud cited health reasons, saying, “I wasn’t keeping well.” However, Patnaik was not convinced and promptly asked, “Have you come today to see the BJP CM?”
Dismissing speculations about switching parties, Mahakud later told the media, “The BJD supremo did not mention anything about me joining the BJP. As the Chief Minister of the state, Mohan Majhi had visited my constituency, Champua, for a development event. There was a cake-cutting ceremony where he fed me a piece of cake. Please don’t read too much into it.”
Reacting to the incident, senior BJP leader Jaynarayan Mishra claimed that Naveen Patnaik is worried about losing his party members. “The BJD is on the verge of collapse. One signal from the BJP central leadership, and the party will break into pieces,” he told reporters.
