BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Saturday came down heavily on the BJD for the increasing poll violence in the State. In a scathing attack on the ruling party, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the Banpur incident in which Chilika MLA Prasanta Kumar Jagadev rammed his vehicle into a crowd is not just inhuman but heart wrenching.
Expressing concern over the increasing political violence in the State, Pradhan said perhaps the Banpur incident is the first of its kind in the State when a sitting MLA owing allegiance to the ruling party made an attempt to mow down innocent people in front of a block office in broad daylight.
“Harshest possible language will be inadequate to condemn the incident. The Chief Minister should demonstrate in action that he really believes that ‘there is no place of violence in democracy’,” Pradhan tweeted.
Condemning the murder attempts on BJP workers at Banpur and Bhubaneswar on Friday night, the Union Minister said it is a matter of great regret that the State government is yet to take any action against the BJD hooligans who indulged in large scale violence during the panchayat elections. Wishing speedy recovery of the people who have been hospitalised after the murderous attempts by the suspended BJD MLA and ruling party workers, Pradhan demanded swift action against the culprits.
National BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said this kind of cold-blooded crime and hooliganism is not acceptable and demanded quick and stern action against Jagadev. After visiting the injured party workers who were admitted in different hospitals of the city, State BJP president Samir Mohanty said a lady activist of the party is in a serious condition in the ICU. Others are in AIIMS, SUM and Capital hospitals.
BJP State general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan also demanded immediate arrest of Jagadev. Alleging that the MLA was in an inebriated condition, he slammed the police for not taking action against Jagadev who is facing serious charges in other cases too.