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Odisha vigilance court frames charges against expelled BJD MLA in DA case
The framing of charges against expelled BJD MLA Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy comes amid speculations of him joining the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
A special vigilance court in Odisha on Wednesday framed charges against expelled Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy and his wife in a disproportionate assets case filed against them by the Odisha Vigilance.
The development comes amid speculations of Panigrahy joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
In December 2020, the state vigilance department had booked Panigrahi and his wife accusing them of possessing ₹9.18 crore of disproportionate assets, 435 per cent of the known sources of his income. The couple was booked under sections 13(2) r/w 13(1) (b) /12 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. The Vigilance had filed the chargesheet against the Panigrahy couple in April 2023.
The 56-year-old expelled BJD MLA spent 6 months in jail between December 2020 and June 2021 after the police and state CID lodged three cases against him over duping job seekers.
After his arrest, chief minister Naveen Patnaik expelled him from the party.
Over the last few months, the former BJD MLA has been in talks with the BJP over joining the party to strengthen it in Ganjam.
Once a blue-eyed boy of the chief minister, Naveen Patnaik, Panigrahy took care of CM’s assembly constituency Hinjili in Ganjam district for nearly a decade. He was first elected to Odisha assembly in 2009 from the seaside Gopalpur constituency, the seat he won thrice on a trot. In 2014, Patnaik made him the minister of the rural development, higher education and science and technology departments. He was dropped from the cabinet in 2017 but was still seen to be powerful.
