Sunday, January 8 2006 14:52 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bhubaneswar: The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today (Jan 08, 2006) charged the opposition of trying to hatch a conspiracy to scuttle the state government's efforts to take up industrialisation.

"The bandh called by these forces yesterday was a design to gain political mileage by exploiting the tribal sentiments", party Secretary General Damodar Rout alleged at a news conference here.

The opposition parties, who had lost the confidence of the people in the last two polls, "have been trying to poison the tribal mind by capitalising on the unfortunate Kalinga Nagar incident", he claimed.

Rout said the government had initiated a series of actions following the incident by ordering a judicial probe into it, hiking the quantum of ex-gratia for the next of kin of the deceased tribals from Rs. One lakh to Rs. Five lakh, promise job to a member of each family in the government or PSU, bearing the cost of the treatment of the injured and providing them Rs. 50,000 each.

"By deciding to call for a bandh after the government measures, the opposition parties are trying to take advantage of the situation to extend their influence+, he said.

The Naveen Patnaik government's endeavour to attract huge investments, develop infrastructure, create employment opportunities, take up rural development and its campaign against corruption had endeared it to the people.