BJD MPs' private air journey triggers controversy

The decision of five Biju Janata Dal MPs to fly to New Delhi in a private plane owned by a mining company currently being investigated in the multi-crore mining scam has sparked off a controversy.

The opposition Congress and BJP have demanded an investigation into the matter.The five Lok Sabha members are Pinaki Mishra (Puri), Sidhanta Mohapatra (Berhampur), Ramachandra Hansda (Mayurbhanj), Hemendra Singh (Kandhamal) and Ladu Kishore Swain (Aska).

 The Congress and the BJP have demanded an inquiry alleging that the MPs’ action has once again confirmed the nexus between the Naveen Patnaik-led ruling regional outfit and tainted mining companies operating in the state.

At least one of the MPs, the actor-turned-politician Sidhanta Mohapatra has admitted that he and his colleagues had made the trip to the national capital early this month in the private plane but he was not aware that it belonged to the mining company.

On the reason behind making the trip in a private aircraft instead of a service plane, Mohapatra has clarified that there was a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in the national capital and the party MPs were to accompany the chief minister. 

  As he and his colleagues got to know about the meeting quite late, they had to make the trip in the private plane. “It is not a crime to travel in a private aircraft”, the MP told reporters here adding that he was open to any kind of investigation into the matter.

It was a BJP MLA, Pradeep Purohit, who had brought the matter to light by raising it on the floor of the state Assembly on the last day of the Budget Session on Monday. Demanding a statement from the government, the legislator had said that the five MPs should also be brought into the purview of the investigation that is going on against the mining company.

Chief Minister Patnaik, who is also heading the BJD, has not yet reacted on the issue though it has certainly embarrassed the regional outfit. 

Two of the five MPs - Mohapatra and Swain - belong to the chief minister’s home district Ganjam.