Horsetrading: No headway in Congress probe

BHUBANESWAR: Even as the BJD is trying to cover up the horsetrading allegations in last year’s Rajya Sabha elections, the Congress has also not shown any urgency to take action against the second MLA who abstained from voting.Congress and BJP had demanded CBI probe  to unearth the truth in the horsetrading row. However, Congress suspended Shivaji Majhi after the audio tape exposure involving Ministers of State Pushpendra Singhdeo and Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak.The party announced a four-member team consisting of former chief minister Giridhar Gamang and former ministers Narasingh Mishra, Nalini Kanta Mohanty and Ganeswar Behera. The committee was asked to report on the causes behind the abstentions of MLAs Shibaji Majhi and Gregory Minz, in the polls which resulted in BJD winning  all the three seats. BJP MLA Bhimsen Choudhury had also abstained from voting and was promptly suspended from the party.The other matter before the committee was to inquire about the invalid vote. It was reported at the time of the polls that  Basudev Majhi’s vote was rejected. However, Majhi had written to party president Sonia Gandhi stating that his vote had not been rejected. Sources said that the committee had not met even once. Besides, the members have also not received letters on the setting up of the panel by the party. The formation of the committee was only announced but no follow-up action has been made, a senior party leader said. It seems that the Congress is no longer interested in pursuing the matter further as its MLAs are likely to be found guilty in any investigation. The invalid vote was a deliberate act only to help the third BJD candidate win, a party leader said. Party MP Pradip Majhi has also announced that he would cooperate with  the State Government’s probe into the horsetrading incident as he was in the know of things. Meanwhile, the Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) has almost finalised the chargesheet to be announced against the Naveen Patnaik Government. Sources said that besides several scams and irregularities, the horsetrading issue would figure in the chargesheet. It is likely to be announced  next week.