Bhubaneswar, March 17 The opposition BJD on Tuesday praised its Rengali MLA, Sudarshan Haripal, for refusing to accept money to vote against the party in the Rajya Sabha elections, and instead remaining loyal to former chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, BJD leaders Pramila Mallik, MLAs Byomkesh Ray, and Dhruba Charan Sahoo lauded the 44-year-old first-time legislator from Rengali in Sambalpur district.
"We applaud the honesty and loyalty of BJD's Rengali MLA for refusing an offer of Rs 15 crore to vote against the party and instead remaining loyal to the party," said Sahoo.
He said that the lawmaker, though not wealthy, has proven that he believes in the ideology of the legendary Biju Patnaik, after whom the regional outfit BJD was named.
At the same time, the BJD leaders strongly condemned eight party MLAs for cross-voting.
"The eight MLAs, and their families, who have benefited from the BJD, did not hesitate to betray Naveen Patnaik by cross-voting in favour of an Independent candidate supported by the BJP," alleged Mallik.