**Bhubaneswar:** Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Monday said it will take legal action against the English news channel for trying to defame the party by running a story alleging the Odisha’s ruling party received dubious funding from suspicious sources.
The regional party also stated that it will take legal recourse against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for trying to destroy the reputation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who happens to be the chief of BJD.
“We will send legal notice to the national news channel, which had telecast a story alleging hawala transactions in BJD and to BJP for holding a press meet on this false story,” said BJD spokesperson and Rajya Sabha Member Pratap Deb.
Explaining further, Deb said BJP’s allegation that Naveen Patnaik and MP Ramchandra Hansada had same cheque number is also untrue.
The State Bank of India (SBI) has also clarified on it and given in writing that there is no truth in the allegation, the fire-band leader added.
Slamming State BJP leaders for trying to defame the party, BJD said it will send legal notice to the saffron party’s spokespersons for using the media for political gain.
On the other hand, a five-member team of State BJP on Monday moved the Income Tax Commissioner seeking a thorough inquiry into the alleged discrepancies in the data of ruling BJD’s election expenditure.
“We are also taking the help of law to know the sources of the funds and who deposited the money in BJD account. We urged the Income Tax commissioner to take the matter to Central Board of Director (Tax),” BJP vice-president Sameer Mohanty said.
On Sunday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has already rubbished BJP’s allegation as “malicious”, “fabricated”, and “false” saying there is an effort to malign the party’s image.
A petition has been filed in the Orissa High Court about the alleged dubious transactions in the BJD account during the 2014 general and assembly elections.
The high court has directed the Election Commission to dispose the matter within a month.
Notably, the national news channel on Friday last week in its prime time, had telecast a story and conducted a penal discussion on BJD received crores of rupees during 2014 Assembly Elections from suspicious sources with no mention to Election Commission.
