BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Friday demanded resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for the alleged horse trading by his party during the last Rajya Sabha election. The Chief Minister has no moral right to continue in office after media exposure of the involvement of two of party’s ministers in the horse trading during the Rajya Sabha election in June last year, said BJP spokesperson Ashok Sahu in a release. The BJP had accused the ruling BJD of indulging in horse trading after sudden disappearance of two Congress legislators and a BJP MLA just before the election to the Upper House of Parliament. The transcripts of the telephonic conversation between Minister of State for Labour and Employment Puspendra Singhdeo and a mediator to purchase Congress MLA Shivaji Majhi has vindicated BJP’s stand, Sahu said. Minister of State for Energy Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak was the other key person in the entire episode which was allegedly orchestrated by senior BJD leader Pyarimohan Mohapatra as evident from the conversation, he said. In the wake of the controversy over two power centres in the BJD, the Chief Minister recently clarified that he is the only power centre of the party. If that is true then the Chief Minister is also directly involved in the horse trading, said the BJP spokesperson. He urged the Chief Minister to dismiss the two ministers from his ministry for their involvement in the purchase of Opposition MLAs and order a CBI probe to prove his innocence. If he fails to take any tangible action, the BJP will be forced to take recourse to legal action, Sahu cautioned.
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