BHUBANESWAR: Campaigning for Padampur bypoll ended on a bitter note on Saturday with the ruling BJD strongly reacting to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s remarks and advising the senior BJP leader to maintain dignity and respect.Pradhan, during campaigning, stated that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has become tired, not able to think and repeating words of his officers.
Coming down heavily on Pradhan, BJD MP and spokesperson Sasmit Patra asked the union minister to maintain “dignity and respect” of the chief minister. “The chief minister is the tallest leader in Odisha. Please maintain dignity and respect at least when you (Pradhan) are speaking about him,” he said adding the people of the state will not like any attack on him.
Patra said Pradhan seems to have been disturbed and scared after seeing the massive response to CM’s public meetings on Friday in Padampur. “You have already seen the writing on the wall that BJP is heading for a massive defeat (in the bypoll). Please accept this fact,” he said.
Patra raked up an incident from the 2018 by-election to Bijepur Assembly seat when a ‘BJP’ worker had thrown chappals at the chief minister. “People of Bijepur did not like it and made BJD victorious with a very high margin. You again attacked him today with disparaging words, the people of Padampur will not like it and give you a befitting reply,” he said.
Stating that it is the union minister who is confused over the railway link project to Padampur, Patra said that the mandate for new railway line lies with the Railway Ministry under the Centre. Out of generosity the Odisha Government has given land free and `300 crore for the project, he said.
Targeting the union minister, the BJD MP said that he should have had the minimum decency and dignity towards the announcements by the chief minister for the welfare of people of Padampur and Paikamal.
On the day, the BJD moved chief electoral officer SK Lohani over use of “offensive, derogatory, denigrating and misogynist statements” against its party nominee Barsha Singh Bariha and demanded strong action against BJP leaders Jual Oram, Jaynarayan Mishra and Pradip Purohit.
While Oram made casteist and misogynist statements against Barsha before the media, Mishra, also made abusive, sexist and offensive statements against her, the BJD said in the memorandum submitted to the CEO.