Bhubaneswar: State BJP president Manmohan Samal on Tuesday claimed that several fuctionaries from the BJD and Congress are in touch with his party. His statement assumes significance in the light of a spate of defections in states like Punjab, Maharashtra and West Bengal.He said political situations vary across states — citing Maharashtra, Punjab and West Bengal — and decisions on inducting members are taken accordingly. Samal’s remarks came a day after BJP’s Bargarh MP Pradeep Purohit claimed the BJD could face a split, with several of its MLAs in contact with the BJP.In response, BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty accused the BJP of trying to divert attention from “lawlessness” in the state by spreading misinformation. “Odisha is making national headlines for all the wrong reasons — from recurring barbaric crimes to school textbooks containing more than 2,000 factual and contextual errors. This is shaming Odias and Odisha across the world,” Mohanty said.
