Row brews over Odisha MP’s dual identity

Can the Laxman Tudu who took voluntary retirement from Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on March 1, 2010 and the sitting BJD Lok Sabha member from Mayurbhanj be the same person?

While the BJD MP says that he has no idea about the his namesake, president of Utkal Bharat Party and former Lok Sabha member Kharbela Swain has accused the Mayubhanj MP of committing forgery by lending his certificates to another person of his village to get a job in the CRPF.

According to information obtained by Swain from CRPF under the RTI Act, Laxman Tudu, son of Dhyanchand Tudu of Bada Tilow village under Chandua police station in Mayurbhanj district, joined the CRPF on April 2, 1988. Tudu bearing the Force No. 880971645 was a head constable on general duty before his voluntary retirement in March 2010.

As per the nomination paper filed by Tudu, he is a resident of Baunsabani village under Chandua police station and his father's name is Dhyan Chandra Tudu. Swain recently told the media here that the two villages are hamlets under one revenue village and he has verified this through his sources.

Swain said that the alleged forgery came to light in 2009 when an Odia news magazine published from Balasore made the exposure after Tudu was elected to the Lok Sabha. He further alleged that the BJD MP lent his certificates (to prove educational qualification) to one Salai Murmu of Bada Tilow village to get a job in the CRPF on the condition that the latter would share half of his salary. Accordingly, Murmu is alleged to have religiously sent a portion of his salary to Tudu’s father thorough money order. This continued till the report was published shortly after the election of Tudu to the Lok Sabha.

Apprehending trouble, Murmu applied for voluntary retirement which he got on March 1, 2010, Swain said.

Describing the allegations as baseless, the BJD MP said this showed the frustration of Swain who is in a political wilderness after leaving the BJP. “My father died in 1973 when I was in school. How could a dead person receive money from another,” he wondered.

Swain plans to petition the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Election Commission for a through probe into the allegations.