**Bhubaneswar**: The Congress on Sunday demanded resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik by accusing the BJD Government responsible for the controversy between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over Mahanadi water dispute.
The Odisha unit of the age-old party alleged the Naveen Patnaik Government’s laid back attitude had allowed the neighbouring state to go ahead with the construction of a host of projects in the upper catchments on Mahanadi.
Addressing a press meet here at the Congress Bhawan, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Prasad Harichandan said, “The BJD government led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has no moral right to stay in power. The Chief Minister, who is in charge of Water Resources, has acted against the larger interests of the people of Odisha by putting the future of Mahanadi in a state of uncertainty during his 16-year tenure. The Chief Minister has knowingly allowed the Chhattisgarh Government to construct barrages and dams on Mahanadi.”
Showing some documents as proof, Harichandan also said though the Chhattisgarh Government had officially informed the Odisha Government of its proposed projects on at least three occasions, but the BJD Government had preferred to remain silent instead of acting promptly.
Criticising the statement of the PCC president, BJD leader and Minister Sanjay Das Burma said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in 1956 between Odisha and Madhya Pradesh over management of Mahanadi basin.
“Now, our Government is concerned about three major projects which Chhattisgarh had started without informing us. It’s very unfortunate the way the CM of the neighbouring state had spoken about the issue. We should collectively raise our voice against it,” Burma said.