Bhubaneswar: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said the people of the State want to know about Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s role in the coal block allotment case.
Pradhan addressing a Press conference here alleged that coal blocks were allocated to ‘ghost’ companies when Patnaik was the Union Mines Minister in 1998 even though the company became registered in 1999.
Pradhan posed three questions to Patnaik in connection with the coal block allocation case. “Who is GD Daga and how coal blocks were allocated to a company before it was registered? The CM must clarify whether CBI had questioned him and why he has not mentioned this case in the affidavits filed by him during nomination for the upcoming elections,” questioned Pradhan.
Though the BJD did not comment on Pradhan’s allegations, party spokesperson Sasmit Patra, instead, asked a number of questions to him.
At a Press meet, Patra said, “The Union Minister should clarify his links with Sudhir Sharma, the main accused in the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh. Pradhan should also clarify on the allotment of a petrol pump to Kendrapada-based gangster Tito and his role in allotment of rooms in a guesthouse in Uttarakhand to the accused involved in theb Chhatrapur Councillor Laxmidatta Pradhan murder case.
Patra also questioned what steps were taken regarding the black-marketing of LPG cylinders by the agency owned by the Union Minister’s brother. Pradhan must also clarify on his links with the Dhalasamanta brothers, he demanded.
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