Bhubaneswar: A day after Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi stated that he favoured an “amicable” settlement of the Mahanadi water dispute with Chhattisgarh, Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Naveen Patnaik, Thursday questioned whether the state government has withdrawn from the legal route.After a high-level meeting Wednesday, Majhi said that since the efforts being made to resolve the problem in the Central Water Commission are progressing slowly, it can be amicably resolved through negotiations between both states with the support of the central government, according to a CMO statement.Taking to social media, Patnaik, who is also a former chief minister during whose tenure the Mahanadi Water Tribunal was formed, said, “People deserve answers. Yesterday, Hon’ble CM Mohan Charan Majhi chaired a high-level meeting on the long-standing Mahanadi water dispute. As per the official press release and a post by the Advocate General, the focus was on resolving the issue through mutual agreement.”“But this raises some serious questions that cannot be brushed aside. What is the ‘mutual agreement’ being discussed? Mahanadi is Odisha’s lifeline. The state’s BJP government must urgently convene an all-party meeting to explain what kind of compromise is being considered or already decided with the BJP government in Chhattisgarh,” he added.Asking whether Odisha is withdrawing from the legal route, Patnaik said, “Will the state continue pursuing the case before the #Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal? Or is the government preparing to abandon the legal fight?”Noting that there are only eight days until the next hearing of the tribunal August 2, the BJD president raised questions on the state’s “silence”.“Why is there silence? Why hasn’t the government taken stakeholders, political parties, and the people into confidence? Is the state’s BJP government secretly negotiating a settlement with another BJP govt, potentially to undermine #Odisha’s water rights?” Patnaik asked.