Bhubaneswar, Nov 22: Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today termed as "completely baseless" reports that Union Minister of State for Steel and Mines Braja Kishore Tripathy's name figured among names of the six ministers as having 'milked' public sector undertakings. Referring to the Congress' allegation that the CVC named the six Union ministers, including senior Biju Janata Dal leader Tripathy, Patnaik said such charges sounded completely baseless.
"It seems quite clear that the charge is politically motivated", he said adding only some opposition leaders made such statements.
Tripathy is one of the two BJD nominees in the Vajpayee government.
CVC P Shankar has denied in Delhi that he named six ministers as having made money from PSUs.
"The reports that I have named ministers, especially Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley and Petroleum Minister Ram Naik are wild, baseless and totally absurd. Absolutely no names were taken," Shankar said.
Bureau Report