‘Treated as furniture’, Odisha BJP leaders Dilip Roy, Bijoy Mohapatra resign from party
Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: Former Union Minister and Odisha MLA Dilip Roy, and senior BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra resigned from the party on Friday.
Besides sending a joint resignation letter to BJP president Amit Shah, Roy, who represents Rourkela constituency in the Odisha Assembly, also resigned as legislator.
Roy said he called on Assembly Speaker Pradip Amat Friday morning and tendered his resignation from the membership of the House.
"It is with deep anguish that I have decided to quit as the member of State Legislative Assembly as well as from the membership of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)," Roy said in a twitter post.
Both the leaders had for a long been alleging delay in construction of a second bridge over the Brahmani river, establishment of a super-speciality hospital in Rourkela and lack of job opportunities for local youths in Paradip oil refinery.
Mohapatra told reporters that the interest of the state is important and their future course would be announced after about a fortnight.
He also alleged that their suggestions and views were ignored by the party.
In the resignation letter to the BJP national president, Roy and Mahapatra said, "We regret to state that despite repeated efforts in appraising you on the sorry state of affairs of the party here, neither you nor any senior central party leader bothered to consult, review or take corrective measures."
"Be it the Mahanadi water issue or the unfulfilled promise of a second bridge over the Brahmani river, the super-speciality hospital at Rourkela or the dreams of lakhs of jobs for Odia youth which we sold at Paradip during the inauguration of the Oil Refinery - nothing, absolutely nothing materialised," it said.
The letter claimed that the people of Odisha were "disillusioned."
"Several leaders in the party here shared our concerns, but remain silent fearing denial of tickets. You would agree that such silence is a bad sign for any democratic party," it said.
"Well-meaning suggestions by us were construed as a threat by certain ego-centric self-serving politicians who resorted to dirty tricks and a campaign was launched in our respective constituencies to try and deride us," the letter said.
Noting that they cannot be treated as "furniture" in the party, Roy and Mahapatra said, "For us, the interest of the state is supreme. We have never ever compromised our self-respect or the interest of the state for any post, power or ticket."
The two leaders stressed that they guard the interest of the people of the state and their constituency, to whom they are answerable.
Describing defeat of the party with a margin of 40,000 votes at Bijepur bypoll a "shocker", they said this reflected the "disenchantment" of the people with the BJP because of the manner in which the party was functioning.
Roy said due to the charismatic presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the progressive change of BJP, he had envisioned development works for Rourkela and had promised to fulfil the long-ignored dream and aspirations of the people who had reposed their faith in him.
"Now, I acknowledge my failure in living up to their expectations and therefore, taking the moral responsibility, I have decided to quit as the member of the state Legislative Assembly as well as from the membership of BJP," Roy said.
He also said that he has decided not to contest 2019 Odisha Assembly election from Rourkela.
Reacting to the development, BJP state unit president Basant Panda said the party would not be affected by their resignation. Senior BJP leader Golak Mohapatra alleged that the two leaders had been working as "outsiders and they never considered themselves as partymen."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
