Paperman Media । Bhubaneswar, October 27
Senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders Sri Pradeep Majhi and Sri Bhrugu Buxipatra on Tuesday strongly criticised the BJP-led double-engine government in Odisha, alleging its failure to prevent Andhra Pradesh from conducting three-tier Panchayat elections in the disputed Kotia region.
The leaders claimed that the development work undertaken in Kotia had largely been carried out during the tenure of former Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik. They alleged that Odisha had suffered setbacks in its border disputes with Andhra Pradesh over the past two-and-a-half years under the NDA government.
According to the BJD leaders, the BJP-led government at the Centre was reluctant to take a firm stand against Andhra Pradesh because it depended on the support of its allies for political stability.
Targeting the Chief Minister, who had raised the Kotia issue vociferously while the BJD was in power, Majhi and Buxipatra challenged him to seek the intervention of the Prime Minister to resolve the longstanding dispute.
They asserted that the issue could be resolved swiftly if the Prime Minister intervened, emphasising that Kotia was a genuine concern involving Odisha’s territorial integrity and the rights of its people.
The BJD leaders further declared that their party would remain active on the ground to oppose any attempt to conduct three-tier Panchayat elections in territory that they maintain belongs to Odisha. They vowed to protect the state’s territorial interests and prevent any action that could undermine Odisha’s claims over Kotia.
The leaders also referred to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, underscoring the seriousness of the developments in the disputed region.
The Kotia dispute remains a sensitive interstate issue, with Odisha and Andhra Pradesh asserting competing claims over the area. The BJD has called for decisive intervention by the Centre to safeguard Odisha’s interests and bring a lasting resolution to the dispute.
