BHUBANESWAR: BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday strongly denounced what he termed “police high-handedness” against Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and others who were staging a protest outside the official residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG question paper leak.
Naveen, who returned from New Delhi, said he was distressed by the incident. “Everyone is deeply shocked by the violence unleashed by the police on young students. The Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and many other senior politicians were also treated very roughly by the police. This is shocking,” he told mediapersons here.
Stating that there was widespread outrage across the country over what had happened in New Delhi on Tuesday, Naveen said the BJD would also stage protests in Odisha over the issue. “What has happened has shocked the entire nation,” he added.
The BJD president met the party’s MPs in New Delhi on Tuesday. He described the developments as a matter of national concern, saying protests were being held across the country as well as at Indian diplomatic missions abroad. Meanwhile, the youth and student wings of the BJD staged a demonstration at Master Canteen Square here, demanding the resignation of the Union Education minister.
The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) also strongly condemned the incident, with its youth and student wings taking out a protest rally. PCC president Bhakta Charan Das demanded that Pradhan resign and that the Delhi Police withdraw the cases registered against the protesters at Jantar Mantar.