(TNIE)
The panchayat polls in Odisha are done and dusted but the battle of one-up manship between the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken a nasty turn. Caught in the crossfire right now is Indian Oil Corporation Ltd’s (IOCL) oil refinery at Paradip after the BJP put up a remarkable show in the polls. The Odisha government’s decision to roll back fiscal incentives to the Rs 34,555 crore project, dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi only a year back, has brought the two on a path of confrontation once again.There already have been a flurry of verbal exchanges between the two sides over the issue and both have flashed the “Odisha interest” card. The Naveen Patnaik administration justifies its decision saying that it would prevent a huge loss to the exchequer and that there is no real time employment opportunity for the State’s youth. Not to be browbeaten, the Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, the obvious target, attributes the unexpected harsh decision on Indian Oil to the saffron party’s surge in the panchayat elections.
