Quit & face probe, Braja tells Naveen

BHUBANESWAR: Alleging that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was directly involved in ‘horse-trading’ in last year’s Rajya Sabha elections, former Union minister Braja Kishore Tripathy on Saturday demanded his resignation to face investigation. Tripathy recorded his statement at the Capital Police Station on the Rajya Sabha polls and alleged horse-trading which led to the victory of all the three BJD candidates without adequate numbers.The former Union minister alleged that the Chief Minister had hatched a conspiracy to secure the victory of all the three candidates and the plan was discussed at a meeting before the polls. Naveen, Rajya Sabha member Pyarimohan Mohapatra and two ministers were present at the meeting, he said.Tripathy had filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) on the matter. The ECI had asked the State Government to file an FIR to investigate the matter. The Government filed an FIR at the Capital Police Station against some ministers and MLAs on September 13.But the police refused hand over the copy of the FIR to Tripathy. The former Union minister said he wanted the FIR to know on which basis the police have registered the case and are proceeding with the investigation. “But we will get the FIR copy from the court,” he said.Tripathy said the BJD fielded three candidates who required 111 votes for their victory. But the regional party had only 108 votes, he said and added even on the day nominations were filed, the Chief Minister assured the media that the party had numbers.The BJD leaders ensured victory for their candidates by influencing two Congress MLAs and one BJP MLA who abstained and another Congress MLA whose vote was rejected, he said and alleged the Chief Minister’s complicity in the issue.Criticising the police for their inaction on the issue, Tripathy alleged that they had not investigated the FIRs filed by Congress MLA Shivaji Majhi’s wife at Lanjigarh Police Station and Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das at the Capital Police Station after the MLA went missing. Besides, no action has also been taken on youth activist Debi Prusty’s FIR in the matter. The police sat over these FIRs and there is no headway in the investigation only because the Chief Minister was involved, he said.Tripathy also asked the police why there is no name in the FIR lodged by the State Government. The police replied that those involved will be named in the course of the investigation. The former Union minister had demanded a CBI probe into the incident in his complaint before the ECI. But the ECI directed the State Government to investigate the matter. ‘’But we will fully cooperate with the investigation,’’ he said.Engineer Lalit Mohan Patnaik, who was also a complainant with the ECI, also recorded his statement before the police.