BHUBANESWAR: A day after triggering speculation of a split in the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Rajya Sabha member Pyari Mohan Mohapatra on Wednesday backed out because of lack of numbers and ruled out any plans to topple Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.Naveen has cut short his London trip and is returning to Bhubaneswar on Thursday because of the political crisis.Naveen loyalists also met at Navin Nivas here on Wednesday to express solidarity with his leadership. Parliamentary.Affairs Minister Raghunath Mohanty said 84 MLAs and seven MPs attended the meeting, which was a counter show of strength of the Naveen camp. Some of the MLAs who met Pyari in his residence on Tuesday night, however, crossed over to Naveen camp on Wednesday.But Deputy Speaker Sananda Marandi, three ministers __ Anjali Behera, Sanjib Sahu, Sarada Nayak, __ former minister Bisnu Das and some Pyari loyalists did not attend the meeting. Minister of State for Energy Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, a known Pyari supporter, also kept away from the meeting.The atmosphere was surcharged in front of Navin Nivas where the meeting was going on. Angry BJD activists burnt the effigy of Pyari in front of the Chief Minister’s residence. Mohapatra, however, raised issues of organisational drawback in the BJD and alleged that there is no democracy in the regional outfit. Over-dependence on bureaucrats has made ministers and MLAs left out, he said.
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