BJD leader demolishes additional structures built at home; row erupts

BHUBANESWAR: A controversy has erupted in Odisha over senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Pranab Prakash Das demolishing two unauthorised structures built at his official residence over the years with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing him of violating the law all these years..

Das, the BJD’s organisational secretary, was a three-time legislator from Jajpur in the previous assembly, but contested the Lok Sabha election from Sambalpur against Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and lost. He has been told to vacate his official residence, allotted to him as a lawmaker, by July 15.

State government officials said they received complaints about demolition activities at the BJD leader’s house. A team visited the site and found two unauthorised structures and the debris.

“Such construction was unauthorised and should not have been built. We will check our records and see who allowed these constructions,” said an official of the general administration department. The official added that the demolition activity started soon after the process to get the premises vacated was started.

BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal said the demolition revealed not just the BJD’s corruotion but also its abuse of power. “Italian tiles were used for the unauthorised construction. Besides a Spanish-style swimming pool was also built. How can such opulence be justified? It just shows how the BJD has been ruling for the last two decades,” said Biswal.

Pranab Prakash Das said government quarters have to be returned in the same condition in which they are allotted. “As I was the organisational secretary of the party, many of our party leaders and workers were coming to meet me. So, a temporary extension was built at the official residence to accommodate them (which is now being removed),” said Das.