BHUBANESWAR: The ruling BJD on Monday demanded strong action against Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for obstructing the flying squad from discharging election duty. In a memorandum submitted to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), BJD questioned why action was not taken against the Union Minister who had threatened and abused a flying squad of the Election Commission (EC) at Burla on April 12 and obstructed the officials from checking his luggage.
The delegation comprising BJP spokesperson Sasmit Patra, Sulata Deo and Lenin Mohanty reminded the CEO that the videographic evidence of this incident has been submitted to the EC earlier. The memorandum demanded immediate action against Pradhan failing which questions will be raised about the impartiality and neutrality of the poll panel.
In a separate memorandum to the CEO, the BJD also demanded strong action against those responsible for the attack on Ananta Narayan Jena, the party’s candidate from Bhubaneswar Central Assembly seat. This apart, the BJD delegation demanded immediate arrest of BJP leaders Sarat Chandra Jena and Pradip Tarai from whom the flying squad had seized `15 lakh cash at Jadupur in Krushna Prasad block of Bramhagiri constituency in Puri.