BHUBANESWAR: The BJD on Tuesday threatened to launch an agitation demanding the arrest of Lalit Kumar, son of Odisha Governor Raghubar Das for allegedly assaulting an assistant section officer, Baikuntha Pradhan, in the Raj Bhawan at Puri on July 7.
Addressing a media conference here, BJD spokesperson Lekhasri Samantasinghar also criticised the state government for transferring Pradhan from the Raj Bhawan to the parliamentary affairs department, adding that it has pained 4.5 crore people of Odisha. Referring to the Odia Asmita slogan of the BJP, Samantasinghar asked if this was a sign of Odia Asmita.
Stating that this incident has shamed Odia people all over the country, Samantasinghar questioned the silence of the Odisha government in this regard. “Are there two sets of laws for influential and poor people of the state,” the BJD leader asked and questioned the commitment of the Mohan Charan Majhi for the implementation of Odia Asmita.
Samantasinghar said that things were different under the previous BJD government when the law was equal for every person. She said that the Naveen Patnaik government back then had taken action against Patnagarh BJD MLA Saroj Meher who had assaulted a junior engineer. Then minister Pradeep Panigrahy was also sent to jail on corruption charges and action was taken against Prashant Jagdev, another BJD MLA. “But in this case, no action has been taken against Governor's son, whereas the ASO has been transferred,” she added.
The BJD leader announced that the regional outfit will launch an agitation to fight for the establishment of Odia Asmita if the Governor's son is not arrested soon.
She also raised the issue of delay in the appointment of advocate general even after more than a month of the BJP government came to power in the state. “The BJP government should have taken a decision in this regard in the first cabinet meeting. But the government is silent even after the High Court reprimanded it over the issue,” she added.
