Man who hosted lunch for Amit Shah joins BJD
Berhampur (Odisha), Nov 3 : A man, who had hosted a lunch for BJP president Amit Shah during his visit to Ganjam district last year, joined the BJD.
Naveen Swain of Hugulapeta, about 12 km from here, had served lunch to Shah and other senior BJP leaders, including Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Jual Oram, during their visit to the village for a party programme on July 4 last year.
Swain, along with BJP sarapanch Pradeep Kumar Malana and several of his supporters, joined the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in a meeting at the village Thursday.
Local BJD MLA from Gopalpur and former minister Pradeep Panigrahy welcomed them.
"We welcomed Naveen Swain and Malana to our party. The party's organisation will be strengthened in the panchayat with their entry into the BJD. We'll carry out more development work in the panchayat," said Panigrahy.
"I decided to join the BJD because the party keeps its promise," said 36-year-old Swain, who came to limelight after hosting Shah in his dilapidated house.
"My house was damaged in cyclone Phailin in October 2013. Top leaders of the BJP had visited the house. They had also expressed concern after seeing the house. But they did nothing for me," he said.
On the other hand, the BJD had arranged a house under the 'Biju Pucca Ghara', a state government-sponsored scheme, he said.
"The BJD is doing development work. I joined the BJD to expedite the development work in the panchayat," said Malana.
Reacting to the development, Bharatiya Janata Party's state secretary Bibhuti Jena said, "The ruling party is purchasing the poor people to take credit. It's not good for democracy."
BJP district unit president Kanhu Charan Pati said Swain was not a member of the BJP. "We had selected his house for party president's lunch because Swain was a poor man," Pati said.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
