BJD MP Sujeet Kumar lauds Centre

BHUBANESWAR: Days after former Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Mahanta quit BJD and joined BJP, a post on X by another BJD member of the upper house Sujeet Kumar profusely praising the Union cabinet and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for approval of the Junagarh-Nabarangpur railway line and five other new railway line projects for Odisha has created a flutter in political circles here.

The stand taken on the railway line projects by Sujeet goes against the BJD’s position. Besides, the BJD RS MP from Kalahandi also differed on the issue from his party colleague in Rajya Sabha Manas Ranjan Mangaraj.

“Heartfelt gratitude to the Union Cabinet and Hon’ble Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw ji for approving the new Junagarh-Nabarangpur Railway Line and five other projects in Odisha. I have been consistently advocating for this since 2021 across various forums. Hope this project is completed swiftly for the benefit of the people of Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, and the entire region,” Sujeet posted on X.

Mangaraj in his post said no new railway project has been sanctioned for Odisha in the last eight years and an old project has been announced. Besides, funds for the Gunupur-Therubali railway project were sanctioned seven years back and for this, the BJD government led by Naveen Patnaik had given land, he added.