Bhubaneswar, Sept 17: Orissa Chief Minister and BJD President Naveen Patnaik tonight said he was not aware of a split in the regional outfit's parliamentary party and action would be take only after getting "appropriate" information.

"I am as much in the dark as you are. I have not been informed about it (six of ten MPs electing a new leader)," he told newsmen while reacting to reports about the development in New Delhi. He said three of the BJD Lok Sabha members were here yesterday and had met him. "Let me see why this development has taken place", he added.

The party, he said, would take an appropriate decision after finding the facts. "Let me know what has happened", Patnaik said adding he was yet to be informed about it. BJD secretary general Damodar rout said he was yet to confirm the facts from Union Water Resources Minister Arjun Charan Sethi, who was the leader of the parliamentary party.

“I have informed the chief minister and he is probing it,” rout said adding it was to be found out whether suspended MPs could be party to taking decisions relating to leadership of the parliamentary group. The BJD leadership had recently suspended three Lok Sabha members, Prabhat Samantaray, Kumudini Patnaik and Jagannath Mallick on charge of anti-party activity.

Three other MPs, Prasanna Acharya, Prasanna Patsani and Bhartruhari Mahtab joined hands with the suspended MPs to effect the split, apprehended by many within the party, today. The four MPs loyal to Naveen Patnaik, besides Sethi, included union minister of state for steel, Braja Kishore Tripathy, Trilochan Kanungo and Padmanabha Behera.

Bureau Report