BHUBANESWAR: The State unit of the BJP on Sunday alleged that former Congress MP Pradip Majhi had given the call for violence during Nabarangpur bandh on Thursday following direction from the party high command.
Reiterating the demand for action against former MP from Nabarangpur for inciting party workers to resort to arson during the bandh, State BJP general secretary Golak Mohapatra told media persons here that the reason behind the shutdown call was not for pressuring the Government for action against the culprits in the rape and murder of a minor girl at Kosagumuda.
The aim of the bandh call was actually to resort to violence against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Mohapatra said and added that Congress workers have indulged in arson across the country by misleading the people over the issue. Majhi wanted to create an atmosphere of fear and violence in the State by giving such a call, he added.
Mohapatra also criticised OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik for taking the issue lightly by stating that the former MP had made such a statement in an emotional state as he had lost patience over the delay of the district administration to submit the post-mortem report of the rape and murder case.
The BJP leader alleged that the delay of the Congress party to take action against the former MP has proved that his call for violence had the tacit support of the Congress high command. “Odisha is a peaceful state and the attempt to incite violence here should be condemned by all,” he said.
A video of the former MP giving instruction to a party worker to keep petrol and diesel ready to set every on fire during the bandh went viral. “Keep petrol and diesel ready. The moment you get an instruction, set everything on fire. We will see what happens next,” Majhi told the party worker over phone in the video.
The OPCC president said he has received Majhi’s explanation over his inflammatory statement and will send it to the AICC. Patnaik said the former MP made such a statement as he had become emotional.