Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the decades-long dispute between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh over the Kotia cluster of villages, as Andhra Pradesh issued a notification to conduct panchayat elections in the area on November 3.
Senior BJD leaders Pradeep Kumar Majhi and Bhrugu Baxipatra made the demand at a press conference in Bhubaneswar, hours before Modi arrived in Odisha to inaugurate the Reserve Bank of India’s data centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute at Jatni.
“The BJD would like to suggest that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi request the Prime Minister to intervene in the Kotia issue and resolve it,” Pradeep Kumar Majhi said.
The BJD leaders urged the chief minister to personally take up the matter with Modi, questioning the state government’s response to the long-standing territorial dispute.
They also criticised the BJP government in Odisha, describing it as a “double-engine” government, for allegedly failing to prevent Andhra Pradesh from conducting panchayat elections in villages claimed by Odisha.
“The BJD holds the chief minister accountable if Andhra Pradesh conducts panchayat elections in the Kotia villages on November 3. The elections would be considered Majhi’s failure to protect the state’s territory,” Bhrugu Baxipatra said.
The Kotia cluster of villages, located in the Koraput district of Odisha along the Andhra Pradesh border, has been at the centre of a long-running dispute between the two states. The issue has periodically resurfaced over competing administrative claims and Andhra Pradesh’s efforts to extend its welfare and electoral activities into the area.
