BJD rejects Congress proposal of all party-meet on Mahanadi

BJD today rejected a proposal for convening an all-party meeting on Mahanadi water issue even as its MPs raised the matter in both Houses of the Parliament and ruling party activists including ministers and MLAs staged demonstration at the districts.
"The Congress proposal is politically motivated. National parties operating in the state do not have any independent view. They have to take orders from their high commands. Therefore, it is meaningless to hold discussion with them," BJD spokesman P K Deb said in a statement.
The BJD's statement came a day after Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Narasingha Mishra wrote a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for holding an all-party meeting on Mahanadi issue, which has been rocking the state since one-and-half month after Chhattisgarh's act of constructing projects in the upstream of Mahanadi river came to light.

Mishra had sought the ruling BJD's cooperation to convene the all-party meeting.
Rejecting the proposal, the BJD spokesman blamed Congress for construction of Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh during the Congress-led UPA rule. Chhattisgarh government also started the project when UPA was in power, Deb said.