Odisha: BJP, Congress link BJD leaders to Rose Valley chit fund scam

Bhubaneswar: With the CBI arresting two Trinamool Congress MPs for their alleged involvement in the Rose Valley chit fund case, opposition Congress and BJP in Odisha on Thursday demanded action against some BJD leaders for “being hand-in-glove” with the ponzi scheme company. BJP state vice-president Samir Mohanty at a press conference, without taking any name, alleged that a ruling party MLA from Cuttack had arranged a rented house in Mancheswar area of Bhubaneswar for Rose Valley Group chief Goutam Kundu’s media venture. [caption id=“attachment_3170074” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. PTI[/caption] He also alleged that a BJD minister had arranged a meeting of Kundu with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and said, “We seek a clarification from the chief minister on this.” Mohanty alleged that the BJD and the TMC had a “secret understanding” as per which, the former would provide its people for a rally planned by Mamata Banerjee’s party in Odisha on January 10. Asserting that the BJP would make the chit fund scam a major issue in the panchayat polls scheduled to begin from February 13, Mohanty said the state government had failed to return the money to the small investors even though two-and-a-half years had passed. Reacting to the allegation, senior BJD minister Damodar Rout said, “The CBI took up the chit fund investigation on the Supreme Court’s directive. Now, the BJP is in power at the Centre and the CBI is a central agency. So, why are they not cracking the chit fund case at the earliest?” “BJP has been levelling baseless allegations to stay in the media limelight in view of the upcoming panchayat polls,” said BJD spokesperson Rabi Narayan Nanda. Congress too mounted an attack on the BJD over the chit fund scam. “Cuttack-Barabati MLA Debashish Samantaray was involved in Astha chit fund and there was a Mercedes car in his driver’s name. However, the whole issue was covered up,” alleged Odisha Congress treasurer and Cuttack Nagar Congress chief Mohammed Moquim. “We demand that the CBI bring the MLA and others into the purview of its investigation,” he added. BJD MLA Samantaray, however, rejected the allegations saying, “I am in no way involved in the scam. I have no links with any ponzi scheme company.”