Patnaik cracks whip, shows rebel Pyari Mohan the door

As a fallout to the rebellion that took place in Odisha when Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was abroad, the BJD chief today the took strict decision of throwing out mutineer-in-chief and Rajya Sabha MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra from the party. The chief minister also recommended to Governor MC Bhandare that state Commerce and Transport Minister Sanjeev Sahoo and Women and Child Development Minister Anjali Behera be removed from the cabinet.[caption id=“attachment_329397” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“BJD chief Naveen Patnaik. Image courtesy PIB”]  [/caption] Two MLAs Prabath Biswal and Bibuti Balwant Rai were also shown the door. Last Tuesday, sparking speculation of cracks within the ruling BJD, two groups held separate meetings at the houses of party MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra and Naveen Patnaik, who is on an official visit to London. At least 21 BJD legislators, including three ministers met at the house of Mohapatra with some leaders terming the exercise as a “pressure tactics” by one group close to the Rajya Sabha member at a time when Patnaik is away. Reacting to the development, Patnaik deplored the attempts to divide the party and said he would shortly return to Bhubaneswar. “I understand that in my absence an MP of my party is stirring trouble against my state government. And also trying to divide the Biju Janata Dal. This is deplorable,” Patnaik then said in London. Mohapatra, who has been advisor to the chief minister for more than a decade, denied the allegations and said the legislators met him because they were unhappy with the present state of affairs in the party and the government. Patnaik had said he would take the “right decision” after holding discussions with senior party leaders on the developments that had taken place during his absence. With agency input