The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will organise protest rallies against the involvement of leaders and ministers of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the multi-crore chit fund scam in the state.
"In the first phase, BJP will organize protest rallies in seven to eight districts in the state starting from the last week of this month," said Bijoy Mohapatra, senior BJP leader, at a press conference. "Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is the culprit in the scam. His government went on signing pacts with the Seashore Group even after the Centre's Economic Intelligence Bureau informed the state government in 2011 about illegal money circulation schemes by the Group and asked for action against it," said Mohapatra.
The chief minister even attended an event of the Seashore Group, ignoring its tainted credentials, he said.
If the MoU is signed with a tainted company by the government, the chief minister and ministers are bound to be responsible. As per the court order, all those having close links with the chit fund companies will come under the purview of CBI investigation, said the BJP leader. Mohapatra questioned whether due diligence was done before entering the pact with the company. He said that the MoU establishes the proximity of the state government with the tainted company. The chit fund scam is pegged at around Rs 4,500 crore in the state.
Some Seashore firms had signed pacts with tourism, health, cooperation and agriculture departments between 2008 and 2011 for taking up various projects.
