Naveen suspends dissident leader Pyari Mohan Mohapatra

Cracking the whip in a bid to check dissidence in ruling BJD, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today suspended dissident leader and MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra from the party and sacked two of his ministers from the government.

The sacked ministers are Anjali Behera, Cabinet minister in charge of Women and Child Development, and Minister of Commerce and Transport Sanjiv Sahu.

Making the announcement, the Chief Minister said he has written a letter to the Governor recommending their removal.

Apart from Mohapatra, a bureaucrat-turned key strategist and an adviser to Patnaik for over a decade, who has turned a dissident leader now, two MLAs--Prabath Biswal and Bibuti Balwant Rai--were also suspended from BJD.

The Chief Minister, also the BJD chief, returning from London after cutting short a trip, said he has taken these decisions after discussing the issue with senior leaders, ministers and MPs.

He held a series of meetings today with BJD leaders some of whom claimed there was an attempt to topple the government during a meeting at Mohapatra's house here.

"Yes, there was an attempt to topple the government in the absence of Naveen Patnaik when he was away in Britain. It was revealed by many BJD MLAs who attended the meeting at Mohapatra's house on Tuesday night," senior BJD leader and former minister Damodar Rout told reporters here today.

Rout said most of the legislators further informed that they were asked to put their signature on a paper with some claiming that exercise was aimed at giving their consent for making Mohapatra the BJD legislature party leader.