The Hindu : OGP chief meets Digvijay Singh

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 03, 2004

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OGP chief meets Digvijay Singh

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 2. As part of its efforts to have a broader understanding with the forces opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party-Biju Janata Dal in Orissa, the president of the Orissa Gana Parishad (OGP), Bijay Mahapatra, met the senior Congress leader, Digvijay Singh, in-charge of party affairs in Orissa and Assam. Mr. Mahapatra is a staunch opponent of the BJD chief and Orissa Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik.

Although Mr. Singh refused to offer any comment on the meeting, he said a "mechanism was being worked out."

Last week, the rebel BJD MPs/MLAs led by the former Union Minister, Dilip Ray, met the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi.

Mr. Singh said the Congress president would tour parts of the State as part of her mass contact programme.

Tathagat Satpathy quits OGP

Our Bhubaneswar Staff Reporter writes:

The Orissa Gana Parishad suffered a setback today with the former Lok Sabha MP from Dhenkanal, Tathagat Satpathy, dissociating himself from the party.

Announcing his decision at a press conference here, Mr. Satpathy, the party secretary-general, said he was withdrawing from the OGP as the outfit had started negotiations with the Congress.

Mr. Satpathy said that despite being the son of the veteran Congress leader and former Chief Minister, Nandini Satpathy, he had always been associated with the political forces opposed to the Congress.

"I will not have any link with any party supporting the Congress."

Asked whether he would return to the BJD, he said he had not sent feelers to any party, but at the same time was not averse to the idea of joining any party that was opposed to the Congress.

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