By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, December 11, 2015 : The issue of Polavaram multi-purpose project is getting murkier with five Congress members resigned from the Odisha Assembly’s House Committee on Polavaram on Friday. They accused the ruling Biju Janata Dal of indulging in dirty politics in the Polavaram issue.

Five Congress members Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Bhujabal Majhi, Kailash Chandra Kuleisika, Chandrasekhar Majhi and Krushna Chandra Sagaria submitted their resignations from the House Committee on Polavaram to Speaker Niranjan Pujari today.

“Naveen Babu didn’t take the House Committee into confidence. He didn’t take the Opposition into confidence neither has he taken the tribal people of undivided Koraput district into confidence. He has betrayed and backstabbed. Forced, we have submitted our resignation papers with the Speaker,” said Tara Prasad Bahinipati, opposition chief whip.

Similarly, Congress MLA Bhujab al Maji made it clear that the ruling party is not keen to protect the interest of the state.

“In the House Committee meeting yesterday we had appealed to the Chief Minister to work taking everyone into confidence. But today they did the opposite, they betrayed us, they stalled the Assembly today over the Polavaram issue. Now we feel that they are not for the interest of the people of the state but for their own vested political interest. We resigned from the committee today. Let them work for their party’s interest we will work for the state’s interest.”

On the other hand, two BJP members of the House Committee have also boycotted the House Committee on Polavaram.

BJP leader in the state Assembly, Basant Panda said, “The BJD didn’t take it up seriously in the High Court, or in the Central Water Commission or in the Supreme Court neither did it correctly present facts at the Central Empowered Committee. Now it has resorted to histrionics to fool the people of Odisha. The BJP will not be a party to such histrionics. The BJP does what it speaks. We are ready to accompany the all party House Committee to the appropriate forum. We will not join the House Committee till the Congress is out of it and the BJD indulges in histrionics. We boycott this House Committee.”