The BJD may have disowned Chilika MLA Prasanta Jagdev for the right reason, but not all in the regional party have shunned him. The Bahubali MLA who in the past had courted controversy for his strong-arm tactics and has been charged with serious offences like attempting to murder, obstructing police personnel from performing their duty, using his SUV as a weapon to hurt people in connection with an incident in which he rammed his car into a gathering seriously injuring more than 22 people and several police personnel.
The charges against Jagdev were so serious that he failed to get bail from the JMFC court Banapur, additional district and sessions court, Khurda and even Orissa High Court.
He, however, walked out of jail a week ago after over four months of his incarceration following a Supreme Court order. If political rumour mills are to be believed, an influential senior leader and a legal eagle helped Jagdev in his fight against the State to get him bail. “It was payback time for the leader, who owes Jagdev much electoral favour,” said sources in the party.