Unperturbed over Odisha government's "senile" remark against him, Congress leader Narasingha Mishra today dubbed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as "intolerant" and asked him to get the BJD bank account issue probed by the Lokayukta even as the ruling party leaders burnt his effigy near the state Assembly.
"I challenge the Chief Minister to appoint a Lokayukta soon and hand over the BJD bank account case to it for an impartial inquiry. I will prove that every word of mine is based on facts. Will the Chief Minister resign if I my words are true?" the Leader of Opposition told reporters after being unable to speak in the Assembly due to frequent adjournments.
The House failed to run due to the din by Treasury bench members who demanded apology from Mishra accusing him of making wild allegation against BJD.
The opposition Congress and BJP members on their part demanded resignation of the Chief Minister, food supplies and consumer welfare minister and removal of chitfund judicial commission head Justice M M Das.
Outside the House, Mishra alleged the BJD government fears to appoint a Lokayukta since two years as it realised that grievances were growing against the Chief Minister.
Accusing Patnaik of hatching a conspiracy and directing his party men not to allow the Opposition to speak in the Assembly, he said "This shows how intolerant the Chief Minister is. He is not ready to listen from the Opposition."
Though Law minister Arun Kumar Sahoo made a statement in the House where he called Mishra "senile", the Leader of Opposition failed to place his points inside due to uproar by members of the Treasury bench.
"I was prevented from speaking in the House due to a conspiracy by an intolerant Chief Minister. How can a member be denied to express his views in the House? This is breach of privilege of a member," Mishra said.
Replying to a question on the Law minister calling him "senile", he said "I feel pity for him. He is only saying the voice of his master. I am more physically and mentally fit at the age of 76 years than his (Sahoo's) leader (Patnaik)."
Asked whether he would tender unconditional apology on charge of misleading the House, Mishra said the state government has "admitted" his statement.
"I had asked whether the SBI account is in the name of the BJD. The minister has admitted it. I had said one Purna Chandra Padhi had deposited money in that bank account, the minister again admitted it. Thirdly, the minister also admitted that Rs eight crore was deposited in that bank account on a particular day," Mishra said adding if the minister was admitting everything, there was no question of apologising.
When pointed out that Purna Chandra Padhi, who deposited the money in the BJD account, was from Ganjam district and not the one who is an accused in the chitfund scam, Mishra said "Let them show the PAN number of Purna Chandra Padhi who deposited more than Rs 50,000 in a day in a bank account."
In a related development, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Prasad Harichandan in a press conference sought the Chief Minister's reply on the CBI interrogation of Saroj Kumar Sahu, authorised signatory of the BJD president.
"We do not understand how and why CBI stopped investigation against Saroj," Harichandan said.
Meanwhile, BJD activists including MLAs and Bhubaneswar Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena joined a demonstration demanding Mishra's apology and his resignation from the post of Leader of Opposition.
