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Imran Khan in Bhubaneswar
After Trinamul Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamta Banerjee, seven MLAs of the Biju Janata Dal, an ally of the National Democratic Alliance, have demanded a review of the party's support to the A B Vajpayee government at the Centre, following the expose on corrupt defence deals by tehelka.com.
In a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is also president of the BJD, the seven MLAs said the country was shocked to see BJP president Bangaru Laxman accepting money brazenly from those posing as representatives of arms manufacturers. They further stated that this has brought disgrace to the BJP and its allies, and that this is a matter which has serious implications for the country's security.
However, Patnaik, after his return from New Delhi late on Wednesday, rejected the demand. "It is premature to review our support," he said.
The BJD MLAs who signed the letter were Manas Ranjan Malik, Prabhat Tripathi, Bibhisan Majhi, Debasis Nayak, Raghab Chandra Sethi, Debraj Mahanty and Anjali Behera.
The MLAs said the image of the NDA government has been tarnished by the scandal, and since the BJD was a partner in the government it could also get tainted by the public for no fault of its own.
The MLAs urged Patnaik not to be a party to "corrupt deals". "The BJP leaders can sacrifice the country's security for their own interests," they said.
A senior BJD MLA told rediff.com that pressure was increasing within the party to review support to the NDA government. "Patnaik is under pressure from the party leaders, including MLAs, to review the support," he said.
More legislators are likely to join the seven MLAs in their demand, it is learnt.
The mood within the BJD can be gauged from the fact that no senior BJD leader, except Nalini Kant Mohanty, defended the NDA in the state assembly on Wednesday, when the BJP was drawing flak from the Opposition over the scandal.
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