rediff.com: BJD parliamentary party splits


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Tuesday
September 17, 2002
2135 IST

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BJD parliamentary party splits

The Biju Janata Dal Parliamentary Party on Tuesday night split with six MPs electing a new leader and approaching Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi for recognition as a separate group.

The six MPs - Prasanna Patsani, Prasanna Acharya, Bhartruhari Mahatab, Prabhat Samantray, Kumudini Patnaik and Jagannath Mallick - met in Delhi and adopted a resolution replacing Union Water Resources Minister Arjun Sethi with Acharya as parliamentary party leader.

The party is headed by Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and has 10 Lok Sabha MPs.

However, Orissa Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik himself pleaded ignorance about the development. "I do not know what happened in Delhi. I have not received any communication from them (the six MPs)," he told journalists in Bhubaneswar late on Tuesday night.

Patnaik may serve show cause notices to three of the MPs - Prasanna Patsani, Prasanna Acharya, Bhartruhari Mahatab - who have approached Joshi seeking recognition as a separate group, a BJD leader later told rediff.com.

With inputs from Giridhar Gopal in Bhubaneswar

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