Row over 5T Secretary’s helicopter rides

Bhubaneswar: 5T Secretary V K Pandian's helicopter tours across the State has sparked off a slugfest between the ruling BJD and Opposition BJP in Odisha.

The BJP has alleged that Rs 500 crore of exchequer's money has been spent on the tours so far, while the BJD rejected the claim, accusing the saffron party of ''misleading the people of Odisha for narrow political mileage''.

BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal, at a press conference here on Saturday, alleged that around Rs 500 crore was spent on Pandian's tours.''Pandian had also used helicopter to attended a marriage function and family programmes of two BJD leaders on separate occasions,'' he said.

He questioned whether the Chief Minister's Private Secretary is entitled to helicopter services to attend private ceremonies.

Senior BJD leader and State Commerce and Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu dismissed the BJP's allegation, saying that the Opposition was ''rattled by solutions provided by Pandian to various problems during his visits undertaken on instruction of the Chief Minister''.

Alleging that the Opposition was trying to mislead the people by giving false information about money spent on Pandian's helicopter visits, the minister said different people are quoting different figures on Pandian's helicopter expenses. While one person claimed the amount spent on Pandian's tours was Rs 300 crore, another claimed it to be Rs 500 crore, she said.

The minister, however, claimed that only Rs 50 crore has been spent in the last five years on helicopter rides undertaken by State ministers and government officials.

''This amounts to an average of Rs 10 crore to Rs 12 crore spent in a year. I will place the detailed information in this regard in the next Assembly session,'' the minister said, while appealing to the Opposition parties to stop ''misleading people'' on Pandian's chopper tours.

Replying to the minister's statement, BJP MLA Kusum Tete wanted to know whether Pandian had used State chopper for attending private functions.Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly, Jayanarayan Mishra, on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Naveen and Pandian, accusing them of destroying democratic norms in the State. Mishra alleged that the Chief Minister has ''leased out the government'' to his Private Secretary. ''Naveen will be dethroned after the 2024 elections,'' he said, adding that the next polls will put an end to the ''misrule'' of BJD in Odisha.

Veteran Congress leader Narasingha Mishra alleged that the officers are not listening to the ministers and they are only listening to the 5T Secretary in utter disregard for democratic norms.