Odisha government and the ruling BJD cried foul over the alleged ‘conspiracy’ to mar the second edition of Make in Odisha Conclave and withdrawal of CII which was to partner the event scheduled to be held in November.

The ungainly and unprecedented row left the industrial circles red faced and has resulted in the Chairman and Vice Chairman of CII Odisha Chapter, Mr Arun Misra and Subrat Tripathy, respectively, to resign from the posts.

With the ruling BJD imputing motives like conspiracy by “an individual or political party” to thwart the process of industrialisation of Odisha, the CII at the national level strangely did not react despite repeated efforts to contact them since last night.

The Odisha government said the Make in Odisha Conclave was first held in 2016 with CII as its partner. It was a success and over Rs 3 lakh crore investment had been lined up.

Since then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced that it will be a biennial event and the second edition will be held in 2018. Last year, the CM had even announced the dates between 11 to 15 November. The CII was taken on board, discussions held and even the budget had been worked out.

Suddenly on 4 April, the CII informed Odisha government of its inability to partner the event citing prior engagements and hinting at rescheduling of the Conclave. It is disappointing, said the state government.

Reliable sources however said CII had not stated that it was withdrawing from the event. Instead , it had suggested rescheduling if the national chapter was to get involved or else the Odisha chapter could go ahead with the Conclave.

The ruling BJD was however more aggressive at a media conference here today with MP and spokesperson P K Deb stating that there is a conspiracy by certain individuals to stall the progress of Odisha.

It is an anti-Odisha design , he said , while pointing out that Ms Jagi Mangat Panda, wife of MP Baijayant Panda, was elected a chairperson of eastern zone CII in March. He did not rule out pressures on the CII from the BJP.

Incidentally, Baijayant Panda has been suspended from the party and is at daggers drawn with the party leadership here.

Mr Deb narrated the sequence of events and correspondence with CII to drive home the point that till February the CII was one with the government and had presented a budget . It even appointed a coordinator.

What changed in one month time ? He questioned while stating that on 4 April the CII came up with the plea of prior engagements. Were they unaware of the prior engagements till February or what is because Ms Jagi Mangat Panda was elected as chairperson of eastern region in March, he alleged.

Deb suspected that ‘ an individual or party ‘ had conspired to put a spanner in the Conclave. We will hold it irrespective of CII partnership or not , yet we request the CII to reconsider its decision said Deb.

Significantly, Deb failed to produce the letter of 4 April to substantiate that the CII had backed out of the Conclave. When it was pointed out that the CII sources insist it had never withdrawn , Deb shot back inability of the national office to parter due to prior engagement is the same as withdrawal.

It is reliably learnt that the industries department of Odisha had insisted on a MoU with the national office of CII which was not agreed upon and the industry body wanted the state chapter to handle the event as in all other states.

Meanwhile, sources close to state CII chapter chairman and vice chairman , both of whom resigned yesterday, said the two were disgusted with the developments and under pressure as they represent companies which had high stakes in Odisha. What will a state chapter chairman or vice chairman do in a Conclave when the national body is not partnering, remarked these sources.

Ms Jagi Mangat Panda, on her part, appealed to the BJD not to drag her in to a political wrangle. Baijayant Panda is in direct politics , she said while requesting the BJD to keep her out of it.

She noted that she has been an entrepreneur in Odisha for over 25 years and provided job opportunity to thousands of youth. I will extend full support to the Make in Odisha Conclave and its success, she added.