BHUBANESWAR, Dec 3: Union Steel and Mines Minister Naveen Patnaik, battling hard to avert a split in the faction-ridden Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Orissa led by him, today faced discontent from a group of his own supporters over the lifting of disciplinary actions against dissidents under a peace package.Patnaik's decision to lift the disciplinary action taken against dissidents' leader Bijoy Mohapatra, two MPs and six MLAs, seemed to have satisfied neither of the warring groups in the party, a day after the BJD legislature wing split formally.
In a surprise move that is unlikely to help rapproachment efforts, the Naveen loyalist MLAs, who met at the residence of former leader of Opposition Ramakrushna Patnaik this morning, wrote to the Assembly Speaker Chintamani Dayamsamantara to allot them separate seats in the Assembly
Party sources said the action came at a time when Naveen had been planning to convene a joint meeting of all the 27 BJD legislators for election of a common leader, after tempers cooleddown in both camps.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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